Family
by DMxxfreek
Summary: Sequel to Finally! Happily married, Nick and Danika now move on together in life, but when Danika brings up the idea of having children, will he be able to go through with it, or will he just crush her dreams of having the family that she's always wanted?
1. Paradise

Paradise

Chapter 1

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**Here we go, kids. The second story of the trilogy. Just so you know, there isn't going to be that much action. The action will come in the next one. This one is more of a fluffy story. Nick and Danika going through the stages of pregnancy together. If you don't like that I'm sorry. I have every chapter typed up, I just have to go over them and make sure they all make sense. Like I said before, this story will take place during season nine and I will use some of the episodes. CSI is not mine. I don't own it. If I did that would the coolest thing ever, but alas, I don't. That's enough ranting, I hope you enjoy the first chapter which is more of a prologue, but nonetheless read and review. **

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Nothing was better than having two weeks off from work. Being off work meant that there were no worries, no stress, and it was the best feeling. Unless of course one would count finding out where to go to dinner was worth stressing over, but who thought something like that was? Danika and Nick surly didn't. Nick hadn't been on a vacation in years. Literally. Being away from the lab and out of the crazy city that was Las Vegas was a beautiful thing. Danika rarely took any of her vacation time either. The last vacation she had was four years ago. (That's what she thought anyway.) But being able to unwind in the sand day in and day out was soothing for the both of them. They didn't want to go back home.

Two weeks went by much faster than the couple wanted. Danika and Nick found that out the hard way. Before they knew it, there were only two days left until their flight back home. Their two weeks of rest and relaxation was all but over, but they managed to do everything that they wanted in that quick time. They went scuba diving, swam with dolphins, rode wave runners around a 27-mile island; there were just so many things to do. And of course they went to the beach. It was even better that they had their own little, private strip of coast line, so they had their own piece of paradise.

Danika would have loved to stay longer. Much longer, but sadly all good things had to come to an end. Key West was just so beautiful! The white, sandy beaches were just beckoning her to stay, but she and Nick had a life back in Vegas that they couldn't not go back to. They would just have to live it up for the last two days. There was no way of knowing when they could find the time to come back.

Danika sighed loudly, resting her head on Nick's chest. Together they watched the waves roll onto the beach from their view on the bed. She would never forget those crystal, clear waters. Why couldn't there be beaches like that in Las Vegas? The ones at the casinos didn't count.

"What are you thinking about?" Nick asked her, trailing his fingers over her hip.

These two weeks were exactly what Nick needed. He didn't need to worry about Grissom calling him for another DB down at the Tangiers. He didn't have to worry about gathering up trace on any dead bodies. He didn't have to worry about anything work related, and that's what was so amazing. Getting back to the usual routine when they returned was going to be a pain in the ass, but this was worth it, and he got to experience it all with his wife. Wife, he loved the way that sounded.

"I don't want to leave!" she answered. "But you already know that."

"I know how you feel. This was much better than the Bellagio," Nick rested one arm behind his head while the other continued to make its way across Danika's warm skin. "We are going to have to do something for our parents you know. I still can't believe they did this for us."

"I agree," she said, doodling random things along his stomach. "And yes, even though the Bellagio would have been nice, it was great that we were able to get out of the city for a while you know. I was so happy that I got to spend it with you too."

"You better be happy, wife," he joked. "What should we do today? Is there anything we haven't done yet?"

"What haven't we done yet? I feel like we have done everything that is possible in this place," she said. "We could just stay in bed all day. When was the last time we did that?"

"Tuesday, and it was great," Nick said without hesitation. "I could go for round two. What about you? When we get back to Las Vegas it will be a while before we can have another lie-in day."

"You do have a point there," Danika replied. "We also have to thank Grissom for watching Maddie. Hank must have been in heaven, having a buddy to play with."

"Uh huh."

Danika didn't know how to bring up the conversation that she knew needed to be talked about. Nick promised her that when she was in the hospital that they would talk about the idea of having children again, once she was better. Well, she was better now, and being away from everything would make it a lot easier to talk about, but she didn't want Nick to push the subject to the back burner again, and not talk about it for weeks. She had tried once to talk about it, but the conversation never got off the ground. What a surprise.

"You are way too quiet," Nick broke the battle going on within her mind. "What are you thinking about this time?"

"Honestly?"

"That would be helpful."

"Kids."

"Oh."

There it was again. The horrible pause after the emotionless "oh." Why did he have to do that every time she brought up the idea of having kids? He was so good with them, why did the thought of having his own create such a reaction? Sitting up a bit, Danika stared at him. His eyes looked forward and only forward. The air between them thickened. Great, just what she wanted another awkward silence. Grabbing the robe from the chair, Danika tied it around her waist and walked onto the balcony. Why was it such a touchy subject for Nick?

Danika knew for a very long time that she wanted to have a family. A big one, but not as big as the one her mom and dad had. Four was a little too many, but she would do anything to have that family. Hell, she wanted a family with Trent for the longest time. She just loved watching over her younger siblings when she was growing up, and raising her own would be such an amazing thing, but now it seemed like she wasn't going to get the chance. She could feel the ache start to grow more and more in her chest; she wouldn't cry. She didn't want Nick to know what his actions did to her. Resting her arms against the balcony, she watched the scenery below, trying to get her mind on something else, listening to the soothing sound of the waves washing up onto the beach normally did the trick, but it wasn't this time.

Why did he always have to do that to her when she said she was thinking about kids? It was perfectly normal for her to think about that sort of thing. They were married for goodness sake. Why did he always have to hurt her whenever she told him she was thinking about that? He didn't mean to. He really didn't. Why couldn't he just tell her why he would stiffen up when it came to the idea of children? It wasn't because he didn't want them. God no! He wanted to have a family. A family with her. It was just the idea of having children where they lived that made him freak out just a little bit. Las Vegas wasn't the best place to raise a family. There were so many criminals and psychos hanging around out there, and Nick didn't want his children to have to put up with that sort of thing. Maybe, maybe if he told her that, then maybe she would understand where he was coming from. There had been so many cases where children had been involved. What if one day he would find the body of- he couldn't even stomach the idea.

"Are you going to just stand there and watch me, Tex?" He loved the new nickname she had given him.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry," he came up behind her, trapping her along the railing. "I know how much having a family means to you. It means a lot to me too, but-"

"Then what's the problem, Nick?" she turned to face him her eyes were red and puffy. "We're not getting any younger you know. We're almost forty for God's sake."

"You don't think I don't know that?" he asked, understanding her pain. "For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to be like my parents and raise a large family like them, but I know that's not going to happen."

"Really?"

"Please don't be short with me," he said. "I wouldn't want anything more than to have children with you, Danni."

"Then tell me why you always freak out whenever I mention the idea," she exclaimed. "Whatever it is; I just need to know, Nick."

"It's just, I don't think Las Vegas is the best place to have kids," he rubbed the base of his neck. "Do you know how many cases I have had were the victims were children? Too many. I don't want that to happen to us. If something were to happen to our children because of some psychotic criminal, I don't know what I would do with myself."

"Nick, why didn't you just say so?" Danika asked. "If you would have just told me that, I wouldn't have thought the things I did. Don't you think that has crossed my mind once or twice too?"

"You took this a lot differently than I thought you would," Nick couldn't help but smile.

"Then what does that mean for us, Nicky?" Danika asked him. It was silent between the two of them for a few minutes. He was battling himself. She could see it in his eyes. "Nick, are you still with me?"

"One condition," he told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, slightly confused.

"It we want to have kids, you have to promise me that when they're old enough, you will bring them into work," he explained. "I want to see them every morning before I leave, and then we'll go out to breakfast."

"Every morning? Are you sure that's allowed?"

"I don't care," he told her. "I want to know nothing happened while I was at work. I want to see your bright smiling faces. Is it a deal?" A large grin broke out on her face. If that was the only thing that he needed her to do then of course it was a deal. "I take it that's a yes then?"

"Used your investigative skills there, CSI?" she said.

"I was just making sure. I can never tell with you."

Danika gasped, smacking Nick in the stomach. "How rude. You're so mean to me."

"Not as mean as you are to me," Nick countered. "But you married me anyway."

"Indeed I did," Danika grinned, kissing her husband. "I wouldn't take it back for anything in the world."

"So, about spending all day in bed?"

"I like that idea very much," she agreed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Make sure you put up the Do Not Disturb sign this time. I don't want a repeat of Friday. Talk about embarrassing."

"Who cares, they won't see us again," Nick picked her up into his arms. "You know what they say. Practice makes perfect. Right?"

"That they do."

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**I'm debating whether or not to make this one a mature rating. Will that make a difference for people? Would mature scenes make you more into the story or not read it? Let me know. **


	2. Losing a Loved One

Losing a Loved One

Chapter 2

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**Here is chapter two. I will tell you all that there is a spoiler for For Warrick, season nine episode one, in here. If you haven't seen it, sorry if something happens and you freak out. I still can't believe they killed him off. It was almost as bad of a decision as Grissom leaving, but what can we do? Let me know what your thoughts are about this chapter, and if you have any ideas feel free to share in a review. **

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Nick was a lucky man. Danika couldn't help but think that he was so fortunate to work with such an amazing group of people as she watched them converse with one another at breakfast. They were all one, giant happy family, and she loved that they had accepted her into their close-knit group.

"Well, I don't know about you all, but I would like to catch up on some Z's before the next shift," Greg announced, rising from his chair. "I'll catch you all later. Bye, lovebug!"

"Bye Greg," Danika laughed with a wave.

"I will never understand you two," Nick shook his head between the interaction of his wife and friend. "It makes no sense to me whatsoever."

"He's like my little brother, Nick," she replied. "But I should be going too. I have to get ready for classes. Thank you for letting me join you guys for breakfast today. I'll see you before you head back into work?"

"Of course you will," Nick answered, kissing her goodbye. "Drive safe."

"I'll try my best," she waved to the remaining few CSIs. "It was a smart idea to bring separate cars. Good call."

It was very fortunate for her that they brought two cars; that way Nick wouldn't have questioned her when she pulled into the Walgreens parking lot. He would start asking her question after question about what she was doing at the drugstore when she was supposed to be going to WLVU, and she wasn't ready for answering any of those questions just yet. After all, Danika was only making that quick stop because of a hunch. She was through the roof when Nick finally agreed that they could start trying for a family. They had been trying for a little over two months now, but so far nothing was working for them yet. However, this time she had a feeling. A tiny one, but a feeling nonetheless. It wasn't because she was late, she was always irregular, but there was something in her gut to tell her to take a chance. Smiling kindly at the woman from across the counter, Danika grabbed the bag and drove home as quickly as she could. Maddie welcomed her with a bark then followed her into the kitchen, tail wagging behind her. Maddie was just as excited as she was.

"You have no idea, you silly dog," Danika muttered, taking the box into her hands.

It was a long five minutes. Normally five minutes went by without much thought, but when one is waiting for something at the end of those five minutes, damn it was a long time. Danika paced back and forth in front of her bed. She was glad Nick wasn't back yet. She would ask him what took him so long later, after she knew if the test came back positive or not.

The alarm rang, causing her hands to become sweaty. What if it actually was positive? Were they ready for this life-changing event? Would Nick freak out again? He wouldn't. He couldn't right? Re-entering the bathroom, she picked up the test and shrieked joyfully. She really couldn't wait for Nick to get back home now.

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Nick couldn't believe it. What he saw before him, he still couldn't process through his brain. His best friend was lying on the cold, hard ground lifeless. None of it made any sense. They were all laughing and having a good time not even an hour ago. Warrick Brown couldn't be dead. Who would want to kill him? Warrick was one of the best guys that he knew.

"I feel sorry for whoever did this," he spoke, pulling out his phone. "I have to call, Danni and tell her I won't be home for a while. What do you want me to do Grissom?"

"You and Catherine take the car," Gil answered, looking down at his bloodstained shirt. He couldn't believe it either.

"Okay," he nodded, calling his home phone number. "Sweetheart, something came up. I'm not coming home just yet…..Yeah, I'm fine. I'll tell you when I come back…..I'll call you when I leave. I'm not sure when, but I'll let you know….I love you, Danni…Bye."

"Everything all right?" Catherine dropped a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he answered. "Might as well get started."

Danika was a very confused. What was so important that Nick had to be called back in? She really needed to tell him the wonderful news, but now she had to wait, and she had just figured out the perfect way to do it now too. Well, whatever it was that made him go back in, it must have been important, but for now, she needed to get ready for her classes. There were five of them today. That would keep her mind off things right?

Wrong. Danika thought that her classes would go by in a flash, but that was just not the case. Each one dragged on and on and on. She just wanted to get back home. Maybe Nick would get the night off since he was working now. Then she could tell him over a nice, home-cooked meal. They haven't had a good one of those since their honeymoon. They were due. Then again, he would probably be tired as hell when he got home. She would have to wait until tomorrow to tell him. Yeah, like that was going to happen. Danika needed to tell him, someone, or she was going to burst.

"Professor, are you all right?" Nicole asked from the front row. "You seem a little jumpy."

"I'm fine," Danika smiled in return. "Don't take it personally; I am just really excited to get home."

"Oh yeah, why is that?" Jessie chimed in, resting her head on her palm.

"Oh, it's nothing you need to get worked up about," she explained. "Nothing bad I promise you, and besides, don't you all have studying to do. Finals are next week."

"It's hard to concentrate when you're bouncing up and down," Jessie said. "I think we can all use a break. Share with us. Unless of course it's grown up stuff then by all means keep it to yourself."

"Oh Jessie," Nicole rolled her eyes. "It obviously has something to do with "grown up stuff" as you put it. Is it between you and your husband?"

"Could be," Danika answered.

"Oh my God, she's pregnant!" Lindsey shouted from the back row. "Am I right? Am I right? Am I right?"

The class all turned their heads back to the front of the room and stared at her in silence. That wasn't awkward at all, but they were going to have to find out some time weren't they?

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes I am," the females all awed, while she noticed some of the males in the class frown slightly. Oh hormonal college boys. "But you can't go spreading this around the school. I'm not one hundred percent sure just yet." What they hell was she talking about? These kids were probably already tweeting about it to their friends. "I have a feeling you all won't be focusing anymore today. You're all free to go."

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Nick finally pulled into the driveway hours after he was originally supposed to. He was so thankful that Grissom let them all go home once they took McKeen into custody. They all needed time to rest and think things through. He hoped Danni wouldn't be too mad with him coming home late. She sounded like she really wanted to tell him something over the phone, but he was so tired. As soon as he got out of his clothes, he was going to fall right on top of his bed and sleep for hours. He could already feel it.

Danika wasn't downstairs when he walked inside the house. That was odd. Nick thought she would have been there as soon as she heard him pull in the driveway. Maddie wasn't even there to say hello. It was only nine-thirty. She couldn't have been in bed already.

"Danni?" Nick hollered, taking off his vest. "Where are you, sweetheart?"

When she didn't answer Nick grew concerned. The car was in the driveway. She had to be in the house somewhere. Nick made his way up to the bedroom to find it also empty. Something wasn't right. He checked his phone again. There were no messages. He called her when he left like he told her he would. How could she have disappeared in such a short amount of time?

"Nick, I thought you were going to be a little bit later," he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her voice. He knew he was overreacting over nothing. Maddie made it up the stairs first, jumped up onto the bed, smothering him with her sloppy kisses; his wife laughed at the both of them. "I'm sorry. We went out for a quick walk. I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"You went out now?" Nick asked. "At this time of night?"

"Relax, Nick," Danika said, stripping off her sweaty tank top. "We are fine as you can clearly see. Let me get a quick shower and then I can make you something. I bet you're hungry. I'll make you anything you want."

"Um," he thought for a brief second. "I'm actually not that hungry, Danni. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, what's wrong?" Danika sat down beside him. "Is this about why you went back into work?"

"Yeah," Nick scratched at his head. "Damn, I don't even know where to begin actually."

"I find it easier if you just say what you want to say," Danika told him. "It can't be that bad can it?"

"Warrick's dead."

"What?" Danika gasped, covering her mouth. "How-I mean-I don't understand. I just saw him. We just had breakfast with him."

"I know."

"What happened?" she grabbed his hands.

"There was a mole in the department. McKeen. He shot him," Nick answered, tearing up again. "When we got enough evidence, Jim and I went after him. He's in custody now."

"Nick, I'm so sorry," she hugged him tightly. "I know how close you were with him."

"I still can't believe it," she could feel his shoulders begin to shake.

"Let it out, Tex," Danika told him. "You'll feel so much better."

That's exactly what he did. She could feel the hot tears drop down onto her legs. Danika held onto him as he let his emotions run wild. This must have been so hard for him. Warrick was like his brother. They were family. All of them were, but now, Danika wondered what the others must have been feeling like. Were they hurting just as much as Nick was? She didn't know if they were as close as her husband was with the man. If they were, she could only pray for them. Not long after, her emotions got the best of her, and Danika too began crying. She would miss him too.

"You are so good to me," Nick whispered into her neck. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"I think it's me that's the lucky one," she responded.

"When I call you it sounded like you wanted to tell me something. What did you want to tell me?" he asked.

Danika stared right into his eyes. There was no way she could tell him that he was going to be a father now. Not when he was an emotional mess.

"Don't worry about it. I'll tell you later."

"Are you sure? You seemed really excited on the phone."

"Trust me, Nick. It can wait," she kissed him, hopping off the bed. "I'm going to get a shower now. I stink."

"Yeah, you do."

"Hey," she shouted, tossing her pants at him from the bathroom. "That's not very nice."

* * *

Warrick Brown was quite the popular man it seemed when the funeral came to be. Much more popular than Danika had ever realized, but that didn't really surprise her. He was a great man. The church was completely full. It really was a sight to behold.

Danika and Nick sat in the front pew with the others when the priest nodded at Gil. Nick hadn't told her that he was going to say a few words. Nick grabbed a hold of her hand. She knew he was going to break again.

"As crime scene investigators, we meet people on the worst day of their lives. They've just lost a family member, somebody they loved often in a horrible way. A piece of their heart gone and will never be replaced. The phrase we're trained to offer them, 'I'm sorry for your loss', as we know now doesn't offer much. Warrick Brown was a young boy when his parents passed away. Much too young to know that life can be tragically cut short, but I think that it taught him how precious life is, and so he lived his life to the fullest. Each day as if it was his last day. I was with Warrick on his last day. All the qualities that defined him, his tenaciousness, his deep sense of loyalty, his courage to risk his life for what he knew was right. All of those were with him on his last day. Just before he died we were all having breakfast together. Our team. Our family. Warrick was joking around with Nick and his wife, Danika, asking them about when he would be able to play around with his nieces and nephews. He was-I'm going to miss him so much."

That was the final crack that caused Danika's dam to break. It was true, Warrick was asking the both of them when he was going to be able to play around with his nieces and nephews. He joked around, telling them that he would show them the ropes of Las Vegas. As if Nick knew exactly what she was thinking, he wrapped his arm around her waist and held on tightly. He was feeling the sting too.

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**AA - MamaBirdCat - Thank you very much for reviewing the first chapter. I love getting them from the readers. It's a great help when it comes to how I'm taking the story, and as for the rating, I'll have see if I can man-up and put some good bits in there. I would love to. We'll all have to just wait and see. Hopefully you stick around for the rest of the story. I hope you will like it. :)**


	3. The Cat is Out of the Bag

The Cat is Out of the Bag

Chapter 3

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**Chapter three is at your service. How's Nick going to react to Danika's news? Is he going to be happy? Will he freak out? You'll just have to read and find out. I was going to wait until tomorrow to put this one up, but since my college finally cancelled classes, I decided to put it up. Let me know what you think.**

**I would also like to point out that the chapters are almost going to go by month, so you'll see how things progress with the pregnancy and such. Remember, there won't be that much action. That's for the next story. This one is mainly fluff.**

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It was hard for everyone, especially those at the lab, to get back into the swing of things. Two weeks after the funeral, they were still short-handed, but slowly moving forward. Danika couldn't blame them. A shock that big; it would take a long time to recover. Each morning when Nick got home he would tell her that things were slowly going back to the way they were, but she knew that he was only saying that to make her feel better. She could still see the look on his face whenever he walked through the front door. His usual spark wasn't there. True, he was easing this way back to being normal. Nick would come in, smile and kiss her good morning, but Danika could still see the hurt and pain he was attempting to hide. She was still hadn't told him the exciting news two weeks after finding out, but maybe that was the boost he would need to get back to normal.

Danika made an attempt to tell him last week, but it didn't turn out quite the way she planned. Nick was getting ready to go into work while she was making something to eat for dinner. He came down the stairs, locking his gun into its holster.

"Something smells good in here," he commented, wrapping his arms around her from behind, kissing her temple. "Save some for me?"

"I'll see what I can do," she said. "You sound like you're in a good mood. I like having the normal Nick back."

"The normal Nick?"

"You haven't been your normal self, Tex. None of us have, but I like seeing you smile again," she brought the spoon up to him. "Taste?"

"Damn, you can give my mom a run for her money with that. You better save some of that for me now," he said. "I'm sorry, it's just been hard for me to get back to the way things were, ya know. I still think I'm going to see Warrick whenever I go into the locker room."

"I know it's hard, Nick, it might take a while, but you will feel better," Danika turned back to the stove. "You're doing very well though, with the acceptance stage. I'm proud of you."

"You and your psychology stuff," Nick laughed, letting her go, grabbing his keys from the counter. "I'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you too," she replied. "Nick."

"Yeah?" he asked from the front door.

"Have a good time at work," she chickened out. Why was it so hard to tell him?

"I'll try my best," Danika's face fell when she heard the door close.

"Stop being such a coward," she told herself. "Just tell him already!"

But she didn't. After she ate dinner that evening, Danika went right to bed and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. When Nick came back home, he ate the leftovers and also went to sleep. Something must have happened because Nick reverted back to his lonely, miserable self for another five days. This was going to take longer than she thought. Danika even went to the doctor to confirm the original pregnancy test was really positive. It was, and when the doctor told her that she was already one month along, Danika was ecstatic.

One month, she couldn't believe it. Nick was either going to flip out at her for waiting so long, or he was going to be just as happy as she was. She hoped for the second option. She wanted to see his spark come back.

It was the end of May, and Danika was in bed, leaning against the headboard, reading through the many pamphlets that the doctor had given her. The next eight months were going to be a long and wild ride for her it seemed.

"Danni? Where you at?" Nick hollered from the downstairs.

"I'm up here," she continued looking at the _So You're Expecting a Baby_pamphlet. "You're home early. Good night then?"

"Great day," he smiled, taking off his vest. "It was a really great day. What are you reading?"

"Stuff with valuable information," Danika smiled back at him. "I'm glad you had a good shift."

"I am too," Nick pulled his shirt over his head, making his way over to the bathroom, pausing when he spotted what she was reading. His heart began pounding as he picked up one of the little booklets that his wife had surrounding her, _You and Your Baby_, _The Best Way to Get Through Your Pregnancy_, _What to Expect When You're Expecting_. Eyes growing wide, Nick looked at his wife who had a small smile on her face. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"You're the crime scene investigator. I think you can figure it out," her smile grew wider.

"How-how long?" Nick sat on the edge of the bed, looking through the first one he could get his hands on.

"A month," she answered, wrapping her arms around him. "Congratulations, Daddy."

Nick couldn't breathe. He was going to be a father. He and Danika were going to add to their small family. There was going to be a tiny person he was going to have to look over and care for. Was he ready for this? Okay, that was a stupid question. He knew that he was ready. He was more than ready, and even if he wasn't 100% on board, he would have months to get there.

"If you knew for that long why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I was going to tell you two weeks ago, but then the whole thing with Warrick happened-"

"That's why you were so excited when you were on the phone," Nick concluded. "Damn. You should have just said it right then and there."

"Not when you were a giant, mined up bag of emotions. I tried to tell you last week, but then I wimped out. I'm sorry it took me so long," she apologized. "I just wasn't sure how you were going to react. I still wasn't sure you were still on the fence with this or whatever."

"Are you kidding?" Nick asked. "Of course, I mean, the thought still has me freaking out a little bit, but I have time to sort things out, but you just made my day a thousand times better than what it was!"

"Good, I'm glad."

"Have you told anyone else yet?"

"Nope, you were the first one," she said. "I also wanted to wait until I knew for sure. The doctor confirmed it."

Nick couldn't contain his happiness. Sweeping his wife off of her feet, he spun her around then held her tightly to his chest. This truly was the best thing he heard all day. Kissing her lovingly, he knelt to the floor, lifted her shirt up and kissed her stomach. They had a baby growing in there. One that they had made together.

"That tickles," she giggled. "I take it you're happy about this then?"

"Happy?" he looked up into her eyes. "How can I not be happy? You've made me the happiest man alive today."

"Aw, you're too sweet."

"I can't wait to tell our parents. They are going to freak out," he couldn't help but laugh at the thought of what his mother would do.

"I don't even want to know what my parents will so," she raked her nails through his hair. "I think we should wait a few more weeks, Tex. What do you think? Leave it between us for a while."

"I like the way you think. That feels so good," Nick's hands traveled over to her hips. "I can believe it. We're going to have a baby. He's growing right there."

"He?" Danika asked, raising an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure it's going to be a boy?"

"What makes you say it won't be a boy?" he countered.

"I never said that it wasn't," she said.

"It'll be a boy. I can feel it," he smiled, kissing her stomach again. "Hear that, buddy?"

"It's going to be a girl," she told him her opinion.

"You don't know that," he said. "I bet you ten bucks that it's going to be a boy."

"Ten bucks?"

"I can go up to twenty."

"You're hopeless," she laughed, sitting back on the bed. "I have another appointment in a couple of weeks. Do you want to come with me?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"No, no tricks. Only treats," she said. "You need to go to sleep. You have to work again tonight. I'm going to go downstairs. Maybe take Maddie for a walk."

"Don't even worry about that," Nick stopped her. "I'm going to call Grissom and tell him I can't come in tonight."

"Oh?" she asked. "And what are you going to tell him that he'll let you stay home?"

"Don't worry; I'm not going to give anything away. Although, Gil might get suspicious."

"What are you going to tell him, Nick?"

"I'm just going to say that something came up and we're celebrating. See, nothing will be given away."

"Gil is a very smart man, Nick. He'll know something is up when you say that," she said. "And I'm fairly certain that we won't be celebrating by the time you need to go to work."

"Why? You want to kick me out?"

"No," Danika answered. "You have to leave at nine-thirty. That's a very long time from now."

"What? You think we can go that long?"

"Really?" Danika couldn't help but laugh. "I should have known. Men and their egos."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"What if I don't want to?"

"You're cruisin' for a bruisin', sweetheart."

"You say that all the time, Nick. I'm not that concerned," Danika rose to her feet. "I'm going to make something for breakfast. I'm in the mood for some pancakes. Do you want any?"

"I hungry all right, but not for pancakes."

"Men," Danika shook her head before leaving their bedroom. "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

* * *

**LibbsyNCISFan - Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like it so far. I hope this was a quick enough update for you. I'm not sure if I'm going to update again tomorrow or not yet, it all depends on how many people liked this one. Keep on reading and thank you for the review :) **


	4. Nick's got a Secret

Nick's got a Secret

Chapter 4

* * *

**Here's chapter four! I'm very happy with the amount of people who are checking this story out. I'm glad you all like it, and I hope you will stick with it. In case anyone wanted to know, there are going to be thirteen chapters. I have a feeling that you all can figure out how things are going to play out. If anyone has any ideas floating through their minds, feel free to share, and I might use it. **

* * *

It was very difficult for Nick to keep the pregnancy under wraps when he went into work. Two days after he heard the news for the first time, yes, Grissom did give him that one night off; he walked into the lab with the largest grin on his face. Everyone immediately began thinking of stories as to why he was so happy. They all wanted to know what was going on, but he somehow managed to keep it in. He would just pass it off as "having a good day" but the best part was that everyone was buying it. At least the majority believed it. Nick had a feeling that Catherine and Grissom were looking further into his sudden burst of happiness, but for now he was in the clear.

The workload they had been getting was also somewhat light and easy. As easy as they could be at least. There weren't that many homicides, just a hefty sum of breaking and entering's, some assaults, but nothing too terribly difficult.

"So did you figure out who the perp was yet?" Greg walked into the lab room that Nick was working in.

"Nope, not yet," Nick answered, staring at the screen. "Why are you really here, Greg?"

"What do you mean?" he tried playing dumb, but Nick was too smart for that.

"I'm not that stupid, Greg," Nick said. "Who sent you to try and pry out answers from me?"

"Damn, you are good," Greg said. "It was Mandy and Catherine. Just so you know."

"I figured, wait Mandy? Not Grissom? That's surprising," Nick said. "And there's the guy. The gardener, why am I not surprised. I better call Jim and tell him to pick the guy up."

"That's all I'm going to get? You're not going to tell me anything?" Greg asked. "I thought I was your best friend."

"That's a funny thought."

"Not cool man."

"I'm just kidding, Greggo."

"But really, you aren't going to tell me?" Greg asked again. "I can't go back with nothing."

"Nope," Nick told him, grabbing his jacket. "I'll be back; I have a somewhere I need to be."

"Where you going?" Greg asked.

"I don't think that's any of your business, and don't you have your own case to work on?"

"Hodges is looking something up for me," he said. "Give me something. If I go back to Catherine and Mandy empty handed who knows what they will do to me. Help a brother out!"

"And that's my problem?" Nick asked. "I'll see you in an hour or two."

"Come on, Nick!"

"I'm meeting my wife somewhere. Is that good enough for you?"

"I guess," he answered. "Where are you and lovebug going? You're not going to tell me are you?"

"No, I'm not," Nick left the younger CSI alone in the lab.

"They better not kill me," Greg said to himself as he walked back to Catherine's office. Both women were there waiting for him. This wasn't looking so good for him.

"Well, Greg, what did you find out?" Catherine asked.

"Not much," he answered.

"Greg!" they both exclaimed. "You were supposed to come back with something to tell us."

"All Nick said was that he had an appointment to, and he was meeting with Danika. That's all I know," Greg held up his hands in defeat. "Please don't hurt me," Catherine and Mandy looked at one another then to Greg and then back to each other. The light bulb must have gone off at the exact same time because they both shrieked, making Greg cover his ears. "What the hell? I'm too young to go deaf."

"Oh, Greg," Catherine laughed. "Thank you for getting the information we needed. You can get back to work now."

"Get the information you needed? I didn't tell you anything."

"Trust us, Greg. You told us just enough," Mandy told him, heading back to her room. "Looks like you owe me five bucks, Catherine."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Catherine agreed. "I'll give it to you when you get me my results."

"What were you betting on?" Greg asked.

"Where Nick was going," she answered. "Why? Still didn't figure it out yet did you?"

"Figure what out yet?" Greg was now very confused.

"Why Nick has been so happy when he comes into work. Where he's going now," she explained, shaking her head. "And you are a CSI."

"I still don't follow you."

"Danika's pregnant, Greg. It's obvious," Catherine said.

"How did you figure that out for what I told you?" he asked.

"Think about it, Greg," she said. "Nick is really happy. Happier than he has been in a very long time. He's meeting up with his wife to go to an appointment. What other kind of appointment would they have to go together? Come on, Greg, use your brain."

"I guess that makes sense," Greg agreed. "I wonder why Nick just didn't say that."

"They must want to keep it a secret obviously," she told him. "Danni might not be that far along yet, so they want to wait a while until they know something isn't going to happen. The only think we have to do is act like we don't know."

"That's going to be hard for you. Women are horrible at keeping those kinds of secrets," Greg said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and see Hodges."

"You do that, Greg," Catherine hollered. "Oh, and don't tell anyone else. We have to keep this between us. We don't want people blabbing now do we?"

"No, we don't," Greg answered silently. "Nick is going to kill me."

"Why is Nick going to kill you?" Greg jumped at the sound of Hodges' voice. "For a CSI, you startle really easy."

"No reason," Greg recovered quickly. "What are the results you have for me?"

Danika was nervous. This was the first time she felt it too. She didn't feel like this when she saw her doctor before, but now, since Nick was there with her, she was freaking out on the inside. She tried to find a way to occupy her time, reading magazines that were on the tables, watching the news that was playing on the far wall, but nothing was working.

"What's got you all shook up?" Nick asked, seeing that his wife was slowly losing it.

"I honestly don't know," she replied. "I'm not scared or anything. I think it could be all of this waiting thing. I'm not a big fan."

"Trust me, I know," Nick chuckled. "But I think your prayers have been answered."

Danika perked up at the sound of her name being called. Finally! The wait was over. Together Nick and Danika followed the woman to an empty room at the end of the hallway. She got right down to business which made them very happy. They were going to be out of there in record time.

"So, Mrs. Stokes, how are you feeling now that you are in your eight week?"

"It's not too bad," she answered. "I haven't had any headaches, but morning sickness is a bitch."

"I think we can all agree to that," the woman laughed, writing some things down into a file. "I'm just going to check over a few things then you'll be good to go, and if we're lucky we might be able to hear the little one's heartbeat today. Does that sound all right with you two?" How could it not sound all right?

Nick felt like he was walking on air as he walked back through the lab an hour and a half later. Sure, they didn't get to see the baby today, that wouldn't be for another month or so, but hearing the little guy's heartbeat, yes, he was still sure it was going to be a boy, wow. It was such an amazing feeling. There was no way he could describe it. Hearing his child's heartbeat for the first time just made it that much more real. He was so caught up with what had happened at the appointment, that Nick had no idea that almost the entire lab was watching him with funny looking faces. He didn't give a damn.

"Nicky, you're back," Catherine smiled. "That was fast."

"Yeah," he nodded. "What else does Grissom need me to do?"

"I'm not sure, he's in his office, so you can go ask him," she replied.

"Okay. Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, you're just looking at me weird."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nicky. Get back to work."

"If you say so," Nick wandered back to Grissom's office.

"She is so pregnant," Catherine whispered to no one in particular, making her way to Mandy's lab. "We are on the money. Making Greg go in for the goods wasn't as horrible as we thought it was going to be. You should have seen Nick's face when he walked in. I wonder when they're due."

"At least Greg is good for something," Mandy laughed, continuing her work. "I wonder when he's going to tell us."

"Probably not for a while yet," Catherine answered. "I hope it's soon though. It's been such a long time since we've seen Nick this excited. I'm happy for them. I really am."

* * *

**AA - MamaBirdCat - Thanks, I thought it was cute too. I really wish they would have done something with his character relationship related just so he could have a kid. Like my icon, whenever I see him with a kid, my insides melt. **


	5. Spilling the Beans

Spilling the Beans

Chapter 5

* * *

**I have a feeling that some of you were waiting for this. Time to tell the parents. Is it going to go well? Thanks to everyone who has been checking this story out. I can't wait to get to get to the next story. I am so excited, and I think you are all going to love it. Then I have some ideas for another story after that. Let me know what you think about you think. **

* * *

Her mother was going to kill her. Danika was sure about that. Why she waited this long to tell her; Olivia was never going to let her live it down. She had been pacing the living room with the phone in her hand for the past ten minutes, thinking about what exactly she was going to say. Would it be better to just go out and say it like pulling off a Band-Aid, or should she wait a while, talk with her in a normal conversation and then let it all out? Ugh, why were these kinds of things so hard to do? Thank God, Nick was going to tell Jillian. There was no way she could put up with telling both sets of parents, and she didn't even want to think about what everyone at the lab was going to say. Nick already told her that some of them were getting a little suspicious which wasn't surprising in the least.

"Are you going to call her or not?" Nick asked, watching some sports game on the TV. "You're going to start making a trench in the floor."

"Do you want to call your parents first?" Danika asked him.

"No way," he answered. "I offered yesterday, and you said no."

"Ugh," she groaned. "Why is this so difficult? Don't answer that question."

"Just do it," Nick told her. "Better do it now and not six months from now. I can only imagine how well that will turn out."

"If you say so," Danika dialed. "But if I die, tell Maddie I love her."

"You aren't going to die," Nick said. "And what about me? Aren't you going to tell me you love me too?"

"You already know I love you," she said. "Wish me luck."

"Luck."

"Smartass," she muttered, dialing the number. "Hi, mom. How are you?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. How are you doing?"

"I am doing wonderful. How's dad?"

"He's fine as well. What's with the phone call? Not that I am complaining. It's good to hear from you every now and again."

"Oh, if I got you at a bad time, I can call you back later." Nick turned and glared at her. Damn, there was no way she was getting out of this one. "It's not a bad time then, that's good. No, I just wanted to call and check up on things."

"That's what I thought," Olivia said. "How are you and Nick?"

"We're fine," Danika scratched at her head. "That's actually why I called you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," Danika paused. "Nick and I have some news."

"It better be good news."

"It is," Danika paused before figuring out the best way to tell her. "Mom, Nick and I are going to have a baby."

"What was that dear? I don't think I heard you correctly." Her mother spoke after a somewhat awkward silence.

"I think you heard me well enough, mom," she said. "I'm pregnant," there was another pause before Danika brought he phone away from her ear. The scream was so loud that Nick could hear it. Damn that woman could scream. "Mom, I think you may have caused permanent ear damage."

"Oh my goodness," Olivia finally calmed down. "Dominic did you hear that? We're going to be grandparents!"

"I think the entire Midwest heard you, mom," Danika joked.

"Oh, honey I'm so happy for you and Nick. How far along are you?"

"Thirteen weeks."

"What? That far along already? Why did you wait so long to say something? Did you tell Bill and Jillian yet?"

"No, Nick is going to do that as soon as I'm done talking to you," she answered. "I bet you're aching to tell everyone aren't you?"

"Of course I am. It's not every day that I am told that I'm going to be a grandmother."

"You already are a grandmother."

"Pish Posh, dear," Olivia laughed. "I guess I'll let you go, I'm sure Nick is dying to tell his parents."

"Oh yes, you should see his face right now. He is so thrilled."

"I bet he is. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, mom," she hung up the phone then tossed it to Nick. "Piece of cake. You're up."

"Yes, that was so easy for you," Nick replied with an eye roll, calling his own parents. "Now watch the master and learn."

"Right," Danika shook her head, sitting on her husband's lap who, in turn, slid his arm around her. "Master my ass."

"Hey, mom, how are ya?"

"Nick, this is a surprise," Jillian was shocked. It wasn't every day that her son called her. He only did it when something bad had happened or if he had good news. "This better be good."

"Trust me, mom, it is. Is dad there with you?" Nick asked.

"Do you want him? I'll call him for you."

"No, I don't want to talk with him, I just need you to both be in the same room."

"Okay then," Nick laughed, hearing his mother shouting for his father over the phone. "He's here, Nick. You're on speaker now."

"What do you want to tell us, Pancho?" Bill joined in on the conversation. "Please tell me this is good news."

"It is, Cisco. It is," he said. "You're both sitting down right?"

"Nicky, just tell us already. My heart can't take much more of this waiting."

"Mom, dad, how many grandkids do you have?" Nick asked, grinning when Danika smacked him in the stomach. He loved dragging things out. He really did.

"Too many, Pancho. Why?" Bill answered.

"I hope you don't mean that, dad."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're about to get one more," There was a long pause on the other line. Nick wasn't liking where this was going. "Mom? Cisco? Are you still there?"

"Yes, we're still here, son."

"Oh, Nicky. That's wonderful news."

"It doesn't sound like it's wonderful. There was a very long pause over there on your end."

"Your mother was just a little shocked is all," Bill explained. "Really, Pancho. This is fantastic news. Make sure you tell Danika we said congratulations."

"She's here. She says thanks."

"How far along is she, Nicky?" Jillian asked.

"Thirteen weeks, right, babe?" Danika nodded. "Yeah, thirteen weeks."

"That's great. Did you figure out what the gender is yet?"

"No, but we will in three weeks. I'm still saying it's a boy. Danni insists that it's a girl."

"I would listen to her, Nick. Women are normally right when it comes to those things," Jillian said. "Do her parents know?"

"Yes, she called them right before I called you," Nick answered. "So now you can call them and freak out about it together."

"She will, don't worry, Pancho."

"I know she will," Nick laughed. "That's why I said it. I have to go and get ready for work. I'll call you later when we find out that it really is a boy."

"You do that, son. Congratulations again."

"Thanks," he said before hanging up. "And that's how it's done."

"Yes, it was so much better than what I did," Danika returned the eye roll. "I feel so bad for Jillian. You must have been killing her on the inside."

"It's what I do," Nick shrugged.

"And what's with telling your dad you're going to work?"

"I just wanted an excuse to hang up. Otherwise my mother would be asking a billion questions."

"Of course you did," Danika straddled his lap. "Five bucks says she called my mom and they're talking about the baby right now."

"I'm not even going to doubt you on that," he smiled, resting his forehead against hers. "I can't wait to see the reactions from everyone at the lab tomorrow night. It's going to be crazy."

"Ha, better you than me," she began to play with the buttons of his shirt. "I would love for you to video Catherine when you say it. I could only imagine what her face will look like. Hers and Greg's. Maybe Mandy's. You'll have to tell me all about it."

"If I did, do you think we could win on America's Funniest Home Videos?" Nick joked.

"Probably," she smiled, grabbing his face, kissing him hard. "What do you say, Tex? Up for some fun?"

"That's a funny question," Nick said, scooping her up into his strong arms. "But thank you for asking."

"I thought you might like that," she smiled, kissing him again. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"I know you do," she added.

Nick still couldn't believe how lucky he was. He thought about it every day, but it was times like these, when they were just lying in bed together, where he could really let his mind wander and think about how far he had come to end up with such a wonderful woman. Years ago he would have never seen himself in a position like this. Married with a child on the way. He always thought he would be a single man forever, but he was so happy that he decided against it. The thought of the baby was still a bit scary in his mind, but he couldn't help but feel just as excited. He wondered what their baby would look like. Would he look more like him, her, or a perfect combination to them both? He hoped the baby would have her eyes. Nick loved Danika's eyes. It was one of the first things he noticed when they first met over a year ago. It was things like these where he wished that time would speed up. He wanted to see his child so badly.

"Why are you staring at me?" Danika asked without opening her eyes. "I can feel your eyes burning into my skin."

"That sounds painful," he said. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"The baby and how beautiful you are," he said.

"That's a strange combination, but all right," she rolled onto her back. "Six months now. It's getting closer."

"But not too close," Nick said, kissing her stomach. "Don't worry, buddy. We're not rushing you."

"Still going with a boy, huh?"

"You know I am," he answered.

"Well, after the appointment in a few weeks, you'll be putting your money where your mouth is," she said. "Because it's a girl."

"It's not though," Nick insisted with a grin.

"You're hopeless," Danika shook her head. "I still can't believe you lied to your dad. Big, bad Nick Stokes is afraid of his daddy."

"Are you kidding?" Nick asked, turning onto his side. "He's terrifying."

"Is not," Danika laughed.

"You didn't have to grow up with him," Nick answered. "Trust me, he is one scary guy."

"Uh huh, sure he is," Danika laughed at him.

* * *

**AA - MamaBirdCat - I can only imagine what keeping a pregnancy a secret would be like. I would think it would be really hard to do so. I wouldn't be able to keep that a secret. I had a feeling that if Nick would have a kid, that's how he would be. Like he was walking on air because he's happy and such. I'm glad you liked to conversation between Catherine and Mandy, I was debating on who would do the talking for a little bit, but I'm glad I picked them. I could picture it too, and as for the confronting Nick, you'll just have to wait and see. :) **


	6. Baby Girl

Baby Girl

Chapter 6

When Nick told everyone at the lab, he didn't quite get the reaction he imagined he was going to get. There were congratulations, cheers, but there were no shrieks, something that he was sure would come. At least from Catherine anyway. When there wasn't, he knew something was up.

"You knew didn't you?" Nick asked her well into their shift. "How? I didn't leave any hints."

"I'm a crime scene investigator, Nicky. I figure things out for a living," Catherine answered, looking through some of the paperwork that was piling up on her desk. "I am also a woman, and I do know a few things believe it or not. I had it figured out when you left early that one day back in June. You may have had the others fooled, but not me."

"Damn it, Catherine! Who else figured it out?" Nick asked.

"Just Mandy and I," she said. "And Greg, but I had a feeling that he still wasn't on board when Mandy and I told him. Why is it a big deal that I found out?"

"Because we were thinking you were going to have the best expression on your face when I said something, but as it would seem, you weren't as surprised as we thought you were going to be," Nick explained. "Although, Wendy's reaction was pretty good. That might cover it."

"She wasn't hurt was she?" Catherine asked.

"No, Hodges caught her," Nick smiled, remembering how to Wendy almost fell on the floor when he told them the news earlier. "Catherine, can I asked you something as a friend and not a colleague?"

"Of course you can. What's going through your mind?"

"When you were pregnant with Lindsey, were you scared?"

"Are you kidding?" she asked. "Of course I was scared. Having a child is a life-changing experience, Nicky. Is Danni freaking out?"

"No, she's as happy as can be," he glanced at the floor. "I'm the one who is scared out of their mind, and to be honest, I have no idea why. It's not like I don't want to have the baby, but what if I turn out to be a horrible father? What if something bad happens?"

"Stop right there, Nicky," Catherine took off her glasses, folding them onto the files on the desk. "Why do you think you will be a horrible father? Where is that even coming from? I've seen how you are when we work cases that involve kids. You're a natural. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be an amazing dad. It's not unnatural for you to feel this way, I think, but you have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm freaking out over nothing," Nick agreed. "Thanks for knocking some sense into me."

"You're welcome," she said. "I think it's time you get back to work. Ecklie, no matter what, will be all over your ass if you don't get this homicide figured out."

"Didn't I already have if figured out? All of the evidence points to the daughter," Nick said. "What else is there to look at?"

"You know how Ecklie is," they headed towards Grissom's office. "Always wanting to be perfect. Gil, what do you need us to do? What are you and Greg doing?"

"Nothing," Greg spun around, hiding something behind his back. "We weren't doing anything."

"Greg?"

"Hey, Greg, put me down for a girl, January 3rd. Thanks," Mandy said, walking by the office.

"Greg," Nick said. "Don't tell me that you are betting on my unborn child."

"Now why would you think that I would do that?" Greg responded.

"Oh, maybe it's because you have this long list hiding behind your back," Nick grabbed the paper from the younger CSI's hands. "This is almost the entire department. Danni is going to kill you, you know that right?"

"If Lovebug finds out that is," Greg grinned. "Which, how could she, unless you tell her."

"I kind of want to tell her just so I can see what she does to you," Nick replied. "She packs a powerful punch. Put me down for a boy, January 8th, but if word of this gets out. I didn't bet. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Greg nodded. "That will be ten dollars."

"Ten dollars for this? Are you serious?" Nick asked. "You're going to make me go broke, Greggo. What did you say?"

"That's my joke, and it's ten because it's five for date and five for gender." Greg grinned. "I went the early route. I said December 20th and a girl."

"That's really early, Greg," Nick told him, eyes bugging a bit. "I swear to God if the baby comes that early I will murder you and make it look like an accident. I could probably get away with it too."

"Except you just told two higher-ups your plan, so good luck getting away with that."

"Damn it."

"Nice try though," Greg laughed. "I'm going to go ask the rest of the guys. See ya."

"What are we going to do with him?" Nick asked shaking his head. "Remind me again why we thought it would be a good idea to put Greg in the field."

* * *

It was a girl. Danika was one hundred percent sure that their baby was going to be a girl. There was no doubt in her mind. Gasping slightly while the gel was spread over her stomach, she smacked Nick in the shoulder when he laughed at her.

"All right. There's your baby."

It was the oddest feeling, seeing their baby up there on the screen before them. It was the first time seeing it too. They could have come sooner, but with Nick's changed schedule, she had to wait until he had the time, especially when it came to see that their baby was really going to be a girl.

"She has all ten fingers and all ten toes," Abby told them. "It almost looks like she's waving at us."

"She?" Danika and Nick both asked.

"Yes, congratulations. You're having a girl."

"I told you!" Danika exclaimed, launching her fists into the air. "I was right and you were wrong! Take that, Nick."

"Yes, you were right," Nick sighed. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"You better believe it, buddy," Danika poked his chest. "Oh my God, Nick. We're going to have a girl. Can you believe it? Our mothers are going to have a field day."

"That they will," Nick agreed, staring at the screen. "Are you feeling the same thing that I am right now?"

"Probably," she said.

Nick was still somewhat out of it when they pulled into their driveway. Before Nick could even park the car, Danika was already out and in through the front door, most likely to call her mom to tell her the news. It wasn't that he was disappointed, he wasn't, absolutely not. He just thought that, if they would have more children in the future that were girls, they would have an older brother to look up to; an older brother to protect them.

Sure enough, the moment he walked through the front door, giggles were echoing from the kitchen. That was fast. Taking a beer from the fridge, Nick took a seat on the couch, turned on the news, attempting to relax.

"Nick, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" he asked, drinking almost the entire bottle in one sip.

"You have that look on your face," Danika said, sitting beside him. "It's been there since she said the baby was a girl. You're disappointed aren't you?"

"No-"

"Nick, it's okay to be disappointed. If it was a boy, I would have been disappointed," she told him truthfully.

"Maybe I am. I don't know."

"It's a guy thing isn't it?" Danika asked. "Men want to have a boy first so he can teach him all of the things he knows. Am I right? And when we have other kids, and they're girls then the son would be able to watch out for them."

"You're too smart for your own good," he said. "But yes, that's what is going through my mind. I don't know. I just thought it would be fun to have a boy first, and what makes you sure we're going to have more kids?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"No."

"Yes, it is," she said, standing up. "I'm going to go take a nap. I'm tired. Besides, you do want a son to carry on the family name right?"

"Do you know how many male Stokes' there are? I don't think it would matter-"

"It would matter to you!" Danika shouted. "Don't lie, Tex!"

"Damn," he muttered. "She's too smart for her own good."

* * *

**It's going to be a girl! Who guessed it? Anyone? Either way, the idea of Nick having a baby pulls at my heartstrings, and now that George Eads' wife is going to have a baby; let's just say there better be some pictures. **


	7. Namesake

Namesake

Chapter 7

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**Just because I had nothing to do today, I thought what the hell, and decided to update again. I'm not going to lie, this one made me a bit teary-eyed for a brief moment. I hope you all enjoy it just as much as I liked writing it. Little bit of the episode Gum Drops is talked about in this chapter, and I'm not sure if some of the things talked about between the CSIs was said in other episodes, if they have, I haven't seen them yet, so I'm sorry. (Talk about an episode that pulls at your heartstrings.) Another thing I would like to point out, since this chapter is done, this story is already half way over. There are only six more chapters, but that just means we all get to get to the next story that much sooner. I am so excited to start writing it. It's going to be intense. **

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Danika was busy flipping through the many pages of the second baby book that day, resting against her bent knees as she leaned on the headrest of the bed. On the notebook on the covers to her left was a large list of potential baby names. A very large list of potential baby names. However, most of what was on it now was a load scribbles and X's. Lines upon lines of them. Who knew coming up with a name was such a difficult task? There were thousands of names written in these kinds of books; surely the perfect one had to be in there, even if many of them were just different ways of spelling the same name. What was that about? Then there was the whole idea of making the first, middle and last name go together. She never realized before just how much work and effort went into this sort of thing. Thankfully, there was still time for them to figure out the perfect name.

"One would think that picking names would be the least of our worries," she thought aloud. "This is way too stressful."

Maybe a little too stressful, groaning loudly, Danika put her things on the bedside table on her right and turned on the television. She needed to get her mind onto something else. Anything else. There was a fine list already. Danika was certain that she and Nick would be able to pick one of them together.

* * *

"Hey, Mechanic, you've been in here a long time. What's the hold up?" Catherine asked from the doorway, leading into the garage.

Nick was busy looking through a truck that was found burnt in a parking lot right off the strip. There was nobody in the car which was a good thing, but the car was registered to the victim of Grissom's case. How convenient for them? He just loved it when their cases came together.

"Oh, hey Cath, sorry I must have lost track of time," Nick answered, rolling out from under the car. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, I just wanted to know if you got anything out of the car," she answered. "I would hope since you've been looking at it for over an hour. What do you have for me?"

"I didn't find much, but that's to be expected when it comes to the condition of what this truck is in" Nick said, attempting to scrub his hands clean. "Whoever killed your vic must have torched the car. I did manage to find a white cloth in the back seat next to some glass. Possibly a way to start the car on fire; I'll have to send it over to Hodges, see if he can tell me what it is."

"At least you go somewhere," Catherine said, leaning against the table. "But it shouldn't have taken you that long to get that. You were thinking about something else."

"Ever the CSI, Catherine," Nick laughed. "Yeah, I must have gotten lost in thought. Is that a crime now?"

"No, but it just proves my point. What were you thinking about?"

"The same thing I have been thinking about for the past seventeen weeks."

"Nicky, I thought I told you-"

"It's not about that, Catherine," Nick interrupted her. "I took what you told me to heart and moved on. It's something else that has been on my mind."

"What on earth could that be?"

"The other things there are to worry about when having a baby."

"Ah," Catherine said, shaking her head. "Making sure everything is ready and in place. You should have seen me. I was always changing things around."

"Yeah, that seems about right," Nick nodded. "Danni's got a huge list of names going on right now. It's a little ridiculous if you ask me. It's just a name."

"Well a name is important," Catherine told him. "Did you know we named Lindsay at the last minute? Eddie and I had a name all picked out before hand, but then we changed the name right then and there in the delivery room."

"Really?"

"Uh huh, so you still have time, but it's not a bad idea to have one in mind before she comes," Catherine continued. "I still can't believe it's going to be a girl. This is so exciting!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just because you can still win the big money at the end of all of this. No need to rub it in."

"I'm not rubbing anything in," she said. "I'll let Gil know what you got from the car, see if it helps him with his body."

"Okay, thanks, Catherine."

"Anytime."

* * *

"You're up early," Nick announced entering their bedroom as he got home when his shift was over. "Any reason for that? You don't have any classes today. Why not sleep in?"

"No, but I couldn't sleep very well," she answered. "How was work?"

"The same," Nick replied with a yawn, kissing her then kissing her slightly rounded stomach. "And how is the little one doing today?"

"Hungry," she said. "Do you want anything before you take a forever long nap like you always do?"

"No, I had a bite to eat before I left; just wake me up at one or two."

"I can do that. Sweet dreams," Danika kissed him before heading downstairs.

Nick grinned tiredly, watching her walk out of the room, going downstairs. She was just so cute, even now with her small baby bump. Danika hated it though. Her emotions got in the way whenever she looked into the mirror especially the one in their bathroom. "I'm getting fat." She would say. Nick would then reply with a "no you're not," and "you're only five months pregnant." He would get slapped every time, but he couldn't help himself. It was just too funny sometimes.

After getting a quick shower, Nick pulled on a clean pair of sweatpants and settled down into bed. It felt so nice to be lying down on a soft mattress instead of on the ground underneath a car. It smelt better too. The pillows smelt just like his wife. It was intoxicating. He would be asleep in no time. However, Nick's curiosities got the better of him when he spied the stack of notebook paper lying on the nightstand. Reaching across the bed, he picked it up and began to read over it. The list was much smaller than he remembered.

"Someone was busy," he mumbled, looking down at her progress.

What was once a list that took up at least three whole pages, now only consisted of five names. Ashlynn, Ava, Cassandra, Haleigh, and Natalie, circled at the top was _Grace as the middle name_. How in the world did Danika go from a huge list of names to the five that he was looking at now? It baffled him sometimes at how her mind processed things. It was at that point when his mind began to play around with all of the possible combinations of names. His eyes darted back and forth between each name, figuring out which one would be the best. It was when his saw the middle name that it clicked. That was it. The perfect name for their perfect baby girl.

Danika was surprised to hear footsteps coming down the stairs four hours later while she read through one of the many essays that she assigned her students. Nick should have been sleeping for at least another two hours. What was he doing up now?

"I'm not sure if I've ever said this before, but with those glasses you'd make one hot librarian. I would have read so much more in high school if my librarian looked as good as you do."

"Flattery will get you nowhere in life, Mr. Stokes," Danika told him. "What are you doing down here? You look exhausted. Go back to sleep."

"Eh, you know me. I can never stay asleep for long periods of time. My mind is always going," Nick plopped down onto the couch beside her, lifting her legs then placing them on his lap. "How are those kids of yours doing? By the looks of red marks, not well."

"They're fine. I guess," she tossed the paper onto the rest of the stack. "It's a little upsetting though, normally the majority of the students are fairly bright, but this group, not so much. You should really go back to bed, you look like you're about to fall over."

"I'm fine, darlin', don't worry about me," he said with a smile. "I saw that your list has shortened tremendously."

"Yeah? What did you think? Do you like any of them because if you do then we have that out of the way," Danika asked, placing her glasses on the top of the pile, facing him.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Nick handed her the list. "Do you agree?"

"Cassandra," she read the circled, highlighted, stared name. "Someone went a little overboard with making sure I knew which one he wanted me to see, but that was the one I was aiming towards too. I'm glad we agree, but can I ask why you couldn't just circle it once or something? I could really do without the stars and smiley faces."

"Because that's the one I wanted."

"Obviously, Tex."

Nick pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. Danika's eyes met a crayon-covered front with the words_ Thanks for finding me _over what looked to be a house and a pond. No doubt a child's drawing. She couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face as she opened the card, _From: Cassie To: good guys about: Bad guys._

"What happened?" she asked. "She must have meant a lot to you for you to keep this. Was it in your desk for a while? It looks a little old."

"Yes to both," Nick sighed. He hadn't thought about Cassie in quite some time now, but seeing the name on the list…"Her family was murdered and everyone thought that she was too."

"But you didn't."

"Naw," Nick shook his head. "Her blood wasn't in the house anywhere. I kept hoping that I would find something that would lead me to her."

"And you did."

"Yeah, I did," he smiled widely. "It was one of the better cases that I got to solve. It took a lot out of me for sure, but it was worth it. Cassie was ten and such a sweet, little girl. Who knows what would have happened if I would have given up looking for her."

"But you didn't, and that's one of the wonderful things about you, Nick. You didn't give up, and you found her."

"Thanks, even though the case pulled at my heartstrings a bit, it was worth it," he added. "She'd be a teenage now. That's a really scary thought."

"You never kept in contact with her afterwards?"

"Not really. All I know was that her aunt came to pick her up and took her to live with her somewhere in Nevada."

"That's something," Danika rubbed her bump. "What do you think little one? Do you like the name Cassandra? Cassie for short? I bet she said yes, I can't wait for her to start kicking. It'll be weird, but-"

"It's going to be so much fun, what are you talking about?"

* * *

**AA - MamaBirdCat - That's what I was thinking to when I was trying to pick if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl. Really though, the thought of either one puts a grin on my face, but there's just something about Nick Stokes and a baby girl that makes my heart melt. **


	8. Closer and Closer

Closer and Closer

Chapter 8

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**Not much really happens in this one, just some joking around with our favorite CSIs. SRU has a two-hour delay today, and instead of studying more for my exam, I decided to update for all of you lucky people. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was rare for Danika to join the entire group for breakfast. She had done so about two times before with one or two of them at a time, but wining and dining with them all at one time was a rarity. The gang found themselves at Frank's Restaurant, their usual haunt when their shift was over. Taking up the large booth in the corner, they immediately began conversing among one another. Nick was relieved when she and Riley hit it off right away. Riley Adams was a little harder around the edges than some of them, but Danika didn't care. They seemed to connect right away, something that he and his fellow colleagues still couldn't master right away.

"So what do you think about Vegas and working with these guys?" Danika asked her. "I bet they're on your nerves already. Especially this one," she nudged Greg with her shoulder. "He gets on my nerves sometimes too."

"What?" Greg gasped, placing his hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt. "I have not. Lovebug, how dare you say something like that?"

"I'm just playing with you, Greg. Relax." Danika laughed.

"Don't do that. I was so worried." He said.

"I enjoy it so far," Riley grinned. "I think I am going to like working here a lot."

"That's good," she said. "You'll be busy no doubt. Vegas is one crazy city."

"You got that right," the rest of the others chorused, causing them both to laugh.

"So how long have you and Nick been together?" Riley asked, starting on her breakfast.

"I'm surprised he hasn't blabbed it out to you already," Danika laughed. "Two years in February."

"Wow, and you already have a kid on the way? You guys move fast."

"You can blame him for that one."

"That is so not true!" Nick exclaimed. "Don't listen to a word she says, Riley. She's a liar. Ow."

"That's what you get," Danika replied, smacking him in the chest. "It was all him."

"I'm going to take your word for it."

"You are going to be in so much trouble when we get home," Nick whispered into her ear. "So much trouble."

"I'm shaking, Tex. I'm shaking so much," she said.

"So, Danni how was the appointment yesterday?" Catherine asked.

"It went well," she answered. "Everything is as it should be, and Cassie was sucking her thumb for us."

"Aw, was she?"

"Yes, and Nick got a little emotional," Danika told her. "Again."

"I did not," Nick remarked.

"Did," Danika nodded her head. "I have a picture to prove it." She took out her phone, showing it to everyone at the table except Nick.

"You don't have any-you took a picture? Damn it, woman. Give it here," Nick reached for her phone.

"No, I don't think I will," she dropped it into her purse. "I think I might even get it blown up. Get someone to put it up in the lab just for you. Any takers?"

"You wouldn't dare?"

"I would, and I bet I could get some help with it. Right, Greg?" Danika asked.

"I would, but your husband is giving me the death stare. Sorry," Greg answered. "I would have loved to. Maybe Hodges could help you out. He would love to help you with that sort of thing."

"Don't pay any attention to him, Greg. Nick's harmless regardless of what he wants you to think."

"You have her trained well, Nick." Grissom chipped in.

"I do, don't I?"

Men, Danika thought shaking her head at them. It had come to her attention, as they all sat there in the restaurant, chatting with one another, that something about Grissom was off. More so than normal. He wasn't his usual self when it came to meeting up in the morning for a meal with his friends. He was just sitting there, picking at his food, listening to the conversations, looking around the restaurant. She wanted to know what was up. Maybe Catherine knew. She would have to ask.

"So when was I going to be informed of this little bet that has been going on within the lab?" Danika asked, causing Greg to sit upright and turn a little white. "Don't you dare think that I wouldn't find out, Greg."

"But, no one said anything," he said. "There's no way Nick would have said anything. How did you-"

"Don't ask me that question," Danika said. "I just want to know why no one asked me. I'm hurt, Greg. No one asked me what my thoughts were."

"What?" Greg was shocked. "You want to be in on it? But I would have assumed that you would have hated the idea."

"Why would I hate the idea? Making a little money on the side won't hurt anyone. Will it? Just make sure when Cassie's old enough, she doesn't find out about this. I don't want to explain to a little girl about why people were using her to gamble."

"And you said she was going to kill me," Greg frowned at Nick. "What's your bet?"

"Obviously I'm out on the gender bets seeing as how I missed that cut-off, but as for date, I'm going to say, December 14th."

"Whoa!" Nick exclaimed. "Why so early? I mean, that's really, really early."

"It's not really, really, early," she told him. "Just a little bit shy of three weeks early, and almost everyone in my family was born early. I don't think this little one will be any different. Thankfully we have everything ready right, honey? Nick? Are you okay? You look a little green."

"Yeah," his face did, in fact, have somewhat of a green hue. "I'm fine, but um, isn't it bad when babies are early?"

"I was a month early," she stated. "I don't think anything is going to go wrong. What's that look for, Greg?"

"You're probably going to win now," he frowned again. "I was so close too. I guessed December 20th."

"I won't leave you left out, Greg. This was your idea after all."

"Dang, Nick. This was so much better than what I originally planned," Greg grinned. "Have I told you lately, Danni, how awesome and amazing you are?"

"Once or twice."

"That's enough, Greg. Get your own woman," Nick held her firmly by the waist. "It's getting late all, what do you think?"

"Yeah, I have to head out too. Lindsey needs me to help her with something. I have no idea what. You know this is the first time she has asked me to help her with anything in years. What is wrong with kids these days? When I was younger, I wasn't afraid to ask my mom for help."

"Oh the joys of having a teenager," Nick joked.

"You'll have one soon enough, Nicky. Just you wait. It's not always going to be rainbows and unicorns," Catherine told him.

"It will be for a little while though right?."

Checks were paid, goodbyes were said, and then everyone headed in their own direction. Danika had her head resting on the window as she watched the scenery pass her by. She may have lived in Las Vegas for a few years now, but there was something about the city that always seemed to draw her in, whether it was a brilliant lighting of the strip, or just normal neighborhoods. Turning her head to the side, she watched Nick as he drove, yawning now and then. She didn't tell him very often, but she loved what he did, fighting the bad guys in a way, making the city a better place to be in, finding a way to get the bad guys behind bars even if he wasn't really the one putting them there.

"I don't have anything on my face do I?" he asked her. "You've been staring at me for quite some time now."

"I know," she smiled. "I'm not allowed to look at my handsome hubbie?"

"I never said that," he said. "By all means, stare away."

"Funny," she said. "Have you noticed anything odd about Grissom?"

"He's always been that way, Danni. Where have you been?" he asked, looking at her over the top of his sunglasses.

"You know what I mean," she replied. "He wasn't into our conversations like he normally is. He wasn't eating. Do think it's because Sara left?"

"I haven't really thought about it that much to be honest with you," Nick answered, truthfully. "But the more I think about it, yeah, he has been acting a little strange at the lab. Stranger than normal at least. It could be because of Sara leaving. It affected all of us, but since they had a relationship, yeah it could explain a few things."

"That's what I thought," she said. "Now, I don't know about you, but I feel like I could sleep for a month."

"Cassie making you tired?"

"A little bit," Danika nodded. "Do you mind if I join you this morning?"

"Not at all. I'll probably sleep better anyway."

That wasn't a lie either. Nick couldn't remember the last time they slept together. So much so, that he was slowly forgetting what it felt like to wake up to her every day, with his arms wrapped around her middle. Nick had worked so many doubles, even a few triples here and there, but he was so thankful that he could come home each and every day to her.

"It's a lot harder than before," Danika giggled, as Nick attempted to hold her close to him. "Someone's in the way."

"I can make due," he breathed into her hair. "It'll be worth it. Even if she decides to come earlier than I imagined she would."

"I'm sorry if I scared you earlier," she said. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"It's not," he replied. "At least, it's not anymore. A few weeks ago, I might have passed out if you said she was going to be early because I still wasn't one hundred percent sure about some things, but now, yeah, we're ready in case she does. And by the way you sounded; it's going to be earlier than January 9th."

"I knew you'd come around sometime, Nick," she snuggled closer into him. "Wake me up in a few days will ya?"

"I think you need to wake up in an hour at the most," he said. "Someone has to go to school and teach spoiled college kids psychology crap."

"Hold the phone there," she said. "First of all, way to ruin the fun, second of all, not all of those kids are spoiled, some of them, yes, but not all, and third of all, psychology isn't crap. At least what I teach doesn't."

"I'm joking with you, Danni. Relax and close your eyes," Nick instructed. "You look as beat as I do."

"You don't even know the half of it," Danika yawned loudly. "I love you, Tex."

"I love you too, baby."

* * *

**AA - MamaBirdCat - Cassandra wasn't the first name that I was going to pick either, but as I was writing it, I thought it would be cute. That episode makes me cry whenever I watch it. I don't know how they managed to pull that one off, but...wow. I'm glad you liked it and keep reviewing and making my day :)**


	9. Never Going to Believe This

Never Going to Believe This

Chapter 9

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**Chapter nine! This one has spoilers of Leave Out All The Rest season nine episode five. When I watched it for the first time, I laughed and laughed and laughed. I don't know why it's so funny to me, but it was. I also introduce another character, but you all should know who he is. Things are starting to come together. I also want everyone to know that I have the next story mapped out. When this story is over, I am going to type up all of those chapters before I post them. I found that writing it all and then putting it up is better than writing one, putting it up, and then having to wait until I write a new one, making sure it is right; it just takes a lot longer. I am very excited, just as you all should be.**

* * *

It was storming again. Danika had been living in Las Vegas for a while now, and never in that period of time had she witnessed so many thunderstorms. This had to be the fifth one in three weeks, and for Vegas, that was pretty unique. The weather must have been faulty or something. The thunder had woken her from her dreams and she thought how horrible it must have been for Nick and the rest of them to work in such shitty conditions. She could only imagine what that must have been like.

The storm didn't let up by the time she had to go to work. It wasn't a surprise when she found that there were many empty chairs when she began her lecture. She didn't really want to come either. How could she blame the kids? She would much rather be curled up in her bed, the covers up to her neck, watching her favorite movies, but sadly that was a rarity, and she also had a feeling that her students were waiting for an email telling them that they weren't going to have class. Oops, tough luck for them, well it wasn't going to be much longer until she wouldn't be there for her maternity leave, so she was going to be there until the bitter end.

"Well, I guess this is going to be as good as it gets, huh?" she looked around her classroom, clearly noticing the twenty-some empty chairs in the middle of the room. "Thank you to those who ventured out in this crappy weather today. Props to you. I might just have to give you all some bonus points on your next quiz," she said, earning many cheers from the remaining students. "So, who can tell me where we left off last class? Yeah, Melany."

"You were about to show us that one clip about the Nazis or World War Two or something," the blonde in the front row answered.

"That's right, I almost forgot about that," Danika nodded, getting to the file on her computer. This was going to be an easy class now. "Aren't all of you lucky? This is going to take almost the entire period. Pay attention, I'll be putting up a mini quiz just to make sure you were paying attention. Mark, which means no falling asleep no matter how therapeutic the rain may sound. I would also like all of you to put some feedback on the discussion board by tonight, that way next class we can see what you all think. Deal?" They all shook their heads in agreement. What a breeze that was. Flipping the lights off, the short film began playing, beginning with a section on the Nuremburg Trials. With a smile on her face, Danika got off of her feet and started on one of the books she was reading. What an easy day this turned out to be.

* * *

Nick couldn't wait to tell Danika about his case. She was never going to believe this one. True, he had been on many crazy and unusual cases, but this one, he never had one that dealt with S & M to this extent before. He had just gotten off the phone with Grissom and laughed internally when his boss instructed him to do.

"Grissom wants us to look for any S&M paraphernalia." He told Riley and Greg as they looked through the bedroom of the victim.

"I once had an old lady in her 70s, burglary victim. Had to process her vibrators. Some of them were burned out," Riley mentioned, looking through the dresser.

"Why would you process her tuning forks?" Greg asked her. The exact same thing that Nick was thinking. Who would do that?

"I'm thorough," was her reply.

Making his way over to the walk-in-closet, Nick started his search through the clothes. This had to be one of the biggest closets he had come across in a long time. This Ian guy must have been making decent bank if he and his girlfriend could get a house with a closet like this.

"I got a booty smudge on the TV," Greg announced.

"Justine super-sized herself. Double D implants," Riley added.

"Welcome to Vegas," Nick said, continuing to look through what could have been another room.

"Positive for semen over here," Greg spoke again. "They must have been having a good time."

"What does it say about me that I always find the smut?" Riley asked, holding up a set of handcuffs that she had found inside a trunk hidden under the bed.

"Lucky," Greg darted over to her side, digging through the box with her.

"Guess they were into S&M," Riley said. "You ever been tied up?"

"What do you think?" Greg asked.

"I think you're more into hair pulling," Riley joked.

"Hey," Nick looked at the both of them, slightly disgusted. He didn't need to know anything about his friends when it came to that subject. Those things were best kept behind closed doors, not discussed while working. "Knock it off. Get me some pictures of that stuff, will ya?"

"What's the matter, Nick?" Greg asked. "Got a problem with a little S&M?"

"I never said that," he answered quickly. "I don't think it's wise to be fooling around while we're working. You both need to focus so we can get out of here."

"Why's it bothering you?" Greg questioned more swinging the whip around, edging Nick on. "Does this stuff make you uncomfortable? I find that hard to believe."

"Really, Greg? You think that's my problem?" Nick rummaged through the basket in the corner of the closet. "I just want to get what we came for and get out of here. I, unlike you, have other things I need to do today."

"Fine, I'll drop it."

"I bet he's a role player anyway," Riley whispered to Greg, causing him to chuckle rather loudly.

"I can hear you, Riley," Nick exclaimed, pulling out a tee shirt from the pile. "Whispering is not very nice."

"I know, that was the point," she said, looking back at Greg. "Notice that he didn't deny what I said."

"I'm just going to ignore you now," he said. "I got a bloody shirt in a laundry basket. Bloodstains match the puncture marks on Ian's pecs."

"Which means he must have changed his shirt after the nipple action, but before he was killed," Greg suggested.

"Girlfriend could've redressed him, tossed the shirt in the basket out of habit," Riley said.

"Yeah, and then what? Little Justine ties 200 pounds of dead weight under her SUV?" Nick asked.

"Well, I could do it. It's just physics and leverage," Riley told him. "Takes brains not brawn."

"I don't think you could."

"I think you could do it," Greg replied. "The killing part too."

"I'm going to take this back to the lab," Nick said. "You two keep doing whatever it is you're doing."

"We will," Greg hollered. "He couldn't get out of here quick enough could he?"

"He did seem odd didn't he?" Riley asked. "Five bucks, they have an entire closet of this stuff in their house."

"Why would I bet when you're probably right?" Greg asked. "But we'll never know. I've been to their house once, but never you know-"

"Okay, Greg, I get it. I think we've got enough evidence to say safely that it's more than an assumption," Riley explained. "Let's get these pictures to Grissom."

"That might be a good idea."

* * *

Danika was so thankful that the rain stopped. Now she could get her lunch and take it outside. The weather always surprised her. It was pouring down rain not even twenty minutes ago, but now it was once again, hot and humid. Something she would never quite understand. Making her way over to one of the many outside seating areas, she ordered a small tea and took a seat on one of the nearby tables. Sometimes it was just interesting watch the students interact with one another while she relaxed on campus.

"Is this seat taken?" Danika smiled at the man who appeared before her.

"Not at all," she motioned to the empty seat beside her. "How are you doing, Ray?"

"I am doing very well, and yourself?" Dr. Ray Langston, a fellow university professor answered with a smile. "You're looking good all things considered."

"Thank you," she said. "How is your class going? Many of my students are raging about it."

"It's going well, thank you for asking," he answered. "That's actually one of the reasons why I wanted to see you. In a few weeks, I managed to get the warden down at Ely to let me do a video chat with one of the prisoners. A few of the students from last semester said it would be interesting to see the real face of evil, and I took it into consideration. I'm letting some of the faculty come as well as the students, and I thought that you would be interested. What do you say?"

"That sounds really interesting, Ray," she said. "I might have to take you up on that offer. Send me the time and date, and I will try my best to be there. Crossing my fingers that I will be here when the time comes, who knows with this one." Danika rubbed her stomach enlarged stomach.

"It's going to be in December. Isn't your due date in January?" Ray asked.

"Yes, but in my family, it's common to have children early," she explained.

"That's interesting. I've never heard that before. I'm sure your husband was excited to hear that."

"Oh yes," Danika laughed. "That was a great conversation. Well, it seems that I have to be going. One more class today then I get to go home. It's date night, well afternoon date night I suppose, and Nick gets to pick. I'll see you later, Ray. Have a good day."

"Thank you," he waved. "You as well."

* * *

"Why did you lie to us about knowing Ian Wallace?" Nick asked Michelle Tournay, the woman who showed him and Jim the back room at the Lower Lynx. "We have physical evidence linking him to your S&M room, so we know you know him."

"You had no right to ask the question, therefor I had no obligation to answer it," Michelle answered, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I have a warrant to collect buccal swabs, take all of your shoes, and search your SUV."

"What do you need that stuff for?" she asked.

"Doesn't matter," Nick said. "I have a warrant, I can take it. So why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"Yes, I facilitate people's BDS&M scenes. It's a way to make money. It's not something I practice. I'm an entrepreneur. I majored in theater. Don't you get it?"

"I get that you're looking at two accounts of capital murder," Nick replied. "I hope you're a good actress."

"Look, Ian came in a lot. Got to know each other, ended up sleeping with him," she said.

"At his house. We know that too."

"No!" Michelle exclaimed. "I have rules. I'm not uptight about sex, but I like my privacy. Never been to his house. He's never been to mine."

"Open wide," Nick said, holding up the swab. He was getting tired of this. He was obviously getting nowhere with her.

"I'm not letting you take my DNA and put it in some system where it's gonna stay the rest of my life!" Michelle shouted.

"If you're innocent, what's it matter?"

"That just proves you're a fascist and this is a police state."

"Help me out here, Mitch," Nick turned to the officer guarding the door.

"Ma'am, if you don't let the CSI do his job, I'm gonna have to arrest you for obstruction," Mitch told her.

Glaring at him, Michelle opened her mouth. Nick got what he needed and closed the cap. Hodges would be waiting for this.

"Turned you on didn't it? Bet you're standing at attention. Hypocrite," Michelle leaned back into the chair. "You're no different than the freaks that rent my back room," eyeing his wedding ring, she added. "What would your wife say?"

Nick looked over at Mitch who looked like he was having the greatest time in the world. "This has been the weirdest day hasn't it, Mitch," Nick grabbed his kit, heading towards the door. "Nice try, Miss. Tournay, but my wife's the only one who can turn me on. Have fun looking after her, Mitch." The guard gave a belly laugh and waved good bye.

"When can I get out of here?" Michelle asked the guard, clearly upset that she didn't get the reaction she was looking for. "They can't hold me in here for no reason."

"We'll let you out when you are no longer a suspect," Mitch answered.

"You are never going to believe the day I had," Nick announced the moment he walked in through front door.

"I can only guess," Danika said, watching him pace back and forth in front of the television. "Are you going to tell me about it, or am I just going to have to use my imagination?"

"I don't even know where to start," he stopped, faced her and laughed. "I am so happy to be home. You have no idea how happy I am to be home."

"I think I have a little bit of an idea," Danika giggled. "You all right there, dear? You seem a little frustrated."

"Damn right I'm frustrated!" Nick shouted. "Riley and Greg were getting all up in my business about our lives, and then there was this woman who was-ugh! I'm just so happy to see you, babe. I love you so much. Did you know that?"

"I'm so happy to see you too, but are you feeling all right? You're acting a little strange. Did Hodges spill something in the lab again?" she couldn't help but laugh at him. "Why don't you go take a shower? That always calms you down."

"That sounds like a really good idea," he sighed loudly. "Can you make me pancakes? Yours are so good, and I'm really in the mood for some, and no, Hodges didn't spill anything in the lab. At least, not that I know of anyway."

"I guess I can do that for you since you had such a bad day," she said. "Only if you tell me everything that happened today. It seems like a lot went on."

"Okay, I can do that," Nick agreed. "And it wasn't a bad day per se; oh I'll just wait to tell you when I'm out of the shower."

"That sounds like a good idea. These will be ready for you when you're done," Danika chuckled, watching him all but fly up the stairs. "Some things I will never understand."

* * *

**AA - MamaBirdCat - I also thought Riley was a little hard to get used to. I was glad that she left at the start of season ten. She wasn't a favorite character of mine, so I wasn't upset to see her go. If I was married and my husband had to work nights so I couldn't sleep with his arms around me, I would be upset, so I thought that ever now and then they need to have some time together even if it's not that long of a time period.**


	10. Helping out the Team

Helping out the Team

Chapter 10

* * *

**This chapter is the longest one I have done for this story so sit back and relax. This one uses script from 19 Down from season nine episode nine. Three more chapters until the end. Thank you all for reading and sticking with this story. I really appreciate it. **

* * *

She was getting closer, and it was at that point when Danika was busy in her office that she started to feel a little nervous for the arrival of the baby. Yes, she was excited and couldn't wait for her to get there, but the closer and closer she got to her due date, the more anxious she became. It was December already! Whether she liked the idea or not, Cassie would be gracing them with her presence soon; it was by then that she really began hating her family history when it came to having children. Why couldn't they have been normal?

Danika was slaving away, making lesson plans for the next few weeks, when her phone rang. Something that was rather odd at this time of the day. No one really called her at this time, unless it was a student who wanted to schedule a make-up test or something, but at this time of the day there was no way that that's what the phone call was about. When she noticed that the call was coming from the lab, well, it wasn't a very happy thought that immediately crossed her mind.

"Hello?" she asked cautiously.

"Danika," she let out a sign hearing Jim's somewhat happy tone on the other side of the line. "It seems like I got you at a good time. You aren't busy at the moment are you? Nick said you weren't teaching right now."

"Oh, no you're fine, Jim. What can I do for you?" she asked, spinning around in her chair to face the window, the sun shining in brightly through the glass.

"We actually have an on-going case right now, and for one of the leads, we need to get into a seminar that I was told by your husband that you knew about. Do you know a Dr. Raymond Langston?"

"Yes, I do," she answered. "He's a friend and colleague of mine. You must be talking about his serial killer seminar. It's very popular here on campus."

"Good. Good," Jim said. "Do you think you could get Grissom into that seminar for me without Langston suspecting anything?"

"I was actually going to make my way over to the class myself, Jim," Danika said. "Ray's letting in other faculty members who are interested in the subject. I can tell him that Grissom is teaching another subject, and he was interested."

"That would be wonderful," Jim exclaimed. "Thank you very much. He'll meet you by the classroom. We owe you one."

"You're very welcome, Jim. I'm glad I can help. Don't worry about it."

Sure enough, by the time Danika got to the building where Ray's lecture was going to take place, Grissom was there awaiting her arrival. They greeted one another and headed inside with the other students and faculty.

"Now I get to see you in your natural element," Grissom said as they both sat in the middle of the large auditorium. "What subject do I teach, professor?"

"You look like a sociology professor to me," she answered. "If that's all right with you."

"That's perfect," he replied. "And a big thank you for getting me in here. This is going to help out the case a lot. We owe you one."

"You don't own me anything. I said the exact same thing to Jim," Danika said, spotting Ray entering the classroom from the front of the class. "I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to this. Ray told me about this a few weeks ago; it sounds like it is going be very interesting."

"I agree," Grissom nodded as the lights dimmed.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Raymond Langston," Ray began his lecture. "I'd like to welcome all those faculty members who have bravely come out of the closet and revealed themselves to be murder freaks. Now, one of the things I am most often asked is what does a serial killer look like? It's not a bad question. Statistically speaking, nine out of ten are Caucasian males under the age of thirty, but you never know. There was the case of a mother and daughter. In a three-year spree, they killed over and over again, systematically murdering ten infants and they ate the remains," Ray pointed to someone in the back of the classroom, and before them all, a photograph of two monkeys appeared on the screen. "That's Passion and Pom. Jane Goodall observed their rampage in Gombe in the 70s. Now remember, we human beings share 99.5% of our DNA with chimps. The urge to kill, maybe it's just a big-brain mammal thing, but it is in all of us. I want to reemphasize the ground rules here. Orderly conduct is to be maintained at all times. Don't reveal any personal information. No names. And the warden has requested that the ladies please refrain from wearing any revealing clothing. My dear, you might want to put on a sweater," he suggested to the blonde student near the front of the room. "Now, last semester some of you came to me and said you wanted to know what the face of evil looked like. Well, here it is."

Right before them, a large face appeared on the screen; the face of a monster in Danika's opinion and hopefully many other people's opinion as well. David Haskell, one of the worst serial killer from the 90s to come to the western part of the United States. The first sight of him made her sick in the stomach. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Hello, class," he spoke with a sickening smirk on his face. "Everybody ready to learn?"

"Danika, are you okay? You look a little green," Grissom asked, noticing the disgusted look forming on her face. "This might not be a good idea-"

"I'm fine, Grissom. Really," she gave him a small smile in reassurance. "I just didn't know that Ray was going to have DJK up on that screen."

"I understand," Grissom whispered.

"What can you tell us about your father?"

"Apart from the fact that he was a mean, miserable, son of a bitch who beat me at every occasion, nothing," Nate Haskell replied.

"What about your mother?"

"Was that who that lady was who lived with us? I always wondered."

"Mr. Haskell," Ray warned.

"I killed my first animal when I was nine. It was a cat. It's usually a cat."

"Mr. Haskell!"

"No one knows why that is. I mean. I know it's a terrible thing."

"If you're going to waste our time on playing games and phony remorse, I'll pull the plug right now," Ray threatened.

"Okay, honesty it is then," Haskell said. "I didn't like your book. It's too technical and too depressing."

"Then let's talk about something you enjoyed. Your first kill."

"Oh, you never forget your first time," Haskell smiled. It made Danika nauseas. "But I think that discussion's a little too intimate for this stage of our relationship. Maybe when we know each other a little better."

"That's why we're here. Class, question and answer," Ray opened it up to them.

"Serial killers usually have some sort of selection process. What was yours? How'd you choose your victims?" A student asked first.

"Did you ever buy a car? You go down to the showroom. You're pretty sure you're gonna get one but why the red one? Why not the blue one? Nobody knows, but just one of them speaks to you and that's the one you gotta have," Haskell answered.

"How much premeditation was involved?" another asked. "Did you fantasize about what you were going to do?"

"Of course I did," the man grinned, looking straight at the female who asked the questioned. "All the time. You remind me of my first lay. She was a hooker. I meant that as a compliment."

"Did uh, you ever share any of your experiences with anyone?" Grissom asked from Danika's side. "Like with a buddy?"

"I didn't have any buddies," Haskell answered.

"Well you must have had some friends," Grissom added. "You seem like you could be friendly."

"These days I mostly have fans," Haskell explained. "I get at least two or three marriage proposals every month, but they don't allow conjugal visits, so why carry the baggage when you can't have the fun? You're not a student. What do you teach?"

"Sociology," Grissom glanced at Danika. She was smart to give him that title, but she looked scared out of her mind, and he didn't blame her.

"Tell us your definition of fun," Ray told him.

"Fun is taking someone away from somebody," Haskell said. "Like a nice, Jewish girl for example. Taking her off on a little vacation. Just three days and three nights of Heaven on Earth, and then just Heaven. L'chaim."

"You never revealed the locations of any of your female victims. Why?"

"Because nobody asked me that question ever before," he said. "I always thought that was strange."

"Well tell us now," Ray encouraged him. "Why not? You're serving two consecutive life sentences. You have nothing to lose."

"Of course I do, Professor," Haskell snapped. "Because when I took those women, they stopped being somebody's girlfriend or sister or daughter or fiancé. They became what I wanted them to be. Mine."

"Did any of them resist?" Grissom asked. "No one tried to escape or fight back?"

"Tiffany and Cynthia fought a little at first."

"How did you control them?" Danika asked, finding her voice, the voice in the back of her mind shouting at her, wondering why on earth she was asking the psychopath a question. She should have kept her mouth shut.

"Not with force," Haskell gave her a wolfish grin. "I'll tell you what, Doctor. There are some good-looking teachers on your campus, what's your name?"

"Haskell, answer the question!" Ray shouted.

"Someone's mad. Did I hit a nerve?" he laughed. "Okay then, maybe another time, Doll. I'm gonna return to the Jewish theme here, Doctor. Although, I want you to know that I have also killed Catholics and Protestants and one Atheist. By the way, they all prayed eventually. Anyway, during the Holocaust, when the first arrivals at the death camps realized they were going to be killed, they flew in a panic, so the guards, the Nazis, started telling them that they were going to be put to work, that their skills were going to be used and they all calmed down. And they marched obediently into the showers. You have to give them hope. If you bring a human being to the brink of death and then you offer a chance, no matter how small a chance to survive, they'll grab it. And they'll thank you for it. And then you can do whatever you want. And believe me, I did."

Danika's hands were shaking when the phone rang at the front of the class, signaling that the connection to Haskell was coming to an end. She was happy for that. She couldn't describe how happy she felt on the inside. There was no way she could have lasted another five minutes in that room with that man looking at her.

When the screen went blank, she noticed how many of the other females gunned out of the room too. They weren't enjoying looking into those soulless eyes either.

"Are you okay?" Grissom asked her. "Do you need me to get you anything? You look faint."

"Um, would it be out of the question to ask if I could come back to the lab with you for a little bit?" she asked, close to tears. The way he looked at her; it was haunting. "I can understand if you are busy and need the space, but I think I really need to see-"

"You can come back with me," he told her. "It's fine. I'll explain if anyone asks questions."

"Thank you," she whispered, following him to his car.

The drive back was long and quiet. Grissom would look at the poor woman every now and again just to make sure she was all right, but he knew there was no way she could be. He saw the way Haskell looked at her; it was the way a lion looked at its prey. The moment he parked the car, Danika was out of her seatbelt, running, if you could call it that, into the building.

Danika was looking back and forth between rooms and was slowly losing her mentality when she couldn't find Nick right away. She really needed him right now. Who gave a damn about what Ecklie would say?

"Danni, what are you doing here?" she stopped abruptly, turning her heels. "What's wrong?" It was by that time that her dam collapsed and the tears just started coming. Nick embraced her tightly, asking her again and again what was wrong, but no words came from her. He helped her into an empty room, sat her down, knelt in front of her, and asked again. "Darlin', you need to talk to me. I'm not a mind reader," Shaking her head no, she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried harder. Nick was so confused, but he held her as close as he could, his heart breaking, feeling the tears soak his shirt. "Did something happen at the university?"

"She asked Haskell a question, and things got a little," Grissom froze for a second, thinking of what exactly to say. "He made things a little inappropriate."

"You are not taking her back there," Nick stated. "I don't care if it will help the case. You don't need her to get the job done. If that bastard did something, it's not good for her to be upset, especially now."

"I agree with you, Nick," Grissom said. "I don't want her to go back either. So many of those women were uncomfortable. I wouldn't go back if I was in her shoes."

"Do you hear me, babe? You're not going back to that class. I don't care if you really want to or not," Nick kissed the top of her head. "You'll never see that bastard again."

"I have to, Tex," she breathed heavily, resting her forehead against his chest. "I'm there to help you out. Jim told you what was going on. I'm sorry; I really didn't know that it would affect me so much. It's one more class; I think I'll be okay," Grissom and Nick looked at each other for a moment both debating on what exactly to say. If Haskell managed to break down her walls on the first day, they could only imagine what could happen the next time. "You need to trust me."

"I do trust you," Nick said. "It's the freak that I don't trust, and why the hell would Jim want you to go in the first place?"

Because I know Ray won't ask questions if I'm there with Grissom," she was calm now, being in his arms. "And if it's helping with a case; I just need to be there. Grissom got a fair amount of information out of Haskell today, and I bet with a little more time, he will be able to figure other things out. Won't you, Grissom?"

"That's the idea."

"Fine," Nick replied. "But I swear, if you come running in here again like you did today. You will no longer be helping us on any other cases. Ever. Regardless if we need to do something at WLVU. Agreed?"

"I can agree to that," Danika smiled. "Grissom, could you give us a minute?" the older man nodded then left the two alone. "I'm glad you pulled me into this room. It's darker and I feel like many people won't come looking."

"Looking for what?" he asked.

Rolling her eyes, Danika grabbed Nick by the collar of his shirt and kissed him hard. Her husband, as smart as he was, could be a real dumbass at some times. She could feel his lips turn up into a smile. Now he was getting it.

"You are so lucky Ecklie wasn't around to see that," Nick spoke, breaking the kiss. "He would be all over my ass."

"I'm sure he would understand. I was emotionally distraught."

"And kissing you was the only way I could make you feel better?"

"It works most of the time."

"It does, doesn't it? That is one thing I will never understand with pregnant women and hormones. One minute you're in tears the next you're all over me," Nick laughed. "Are you going to tell me now what actually happened?"

"It was like he was hitting on me through the connection. It was weird," Danika ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't even know. It's just his eyes; they were looking right at me. It's like-I don't even know how to describe it. It's like he was looking right into my soul."

"It's all right, baby. He can't ever get you," Nick spoke, running his hands up and down her sides. "And you know I will always be here to protect you."

"I know you will," she said. "Thank you. I know I'm not really supposed to interrupt when you're working, but I think it was necessary. I'll see you when you get home in a few hours maybe?"

"Yeah, I should be back by then," he nodded. "It seems like we have come to a roadblock. It will be good for us to recharge our batteries. We'll need it for when we want to catch this guy."

"Looks like you need it too," Danika kissed him once more before leaving. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

"So, we've been talking about how you did what you did. Let's shift gears from what you did right to what you did wrong," Ray asked at the next seminar.

"Do you mean in a Ten Commandments sense?" Nate asked.

"I mean in how you got caught."

"That's the least exciting part of the story," he said.

"Yeah, but didn't you want it? Didn't you want to get caught?" a student asked.

"Why would I want that?"

"You were caught because a rookie patrolman spotted blood on your car, correct?" Grissom asked. "For a careful man, that seems a little careless."

"Everyone makes mistakes," Haskell answered.

"Not someone like you," Ray retorted.

"Not a mistake like that," Grissom added.

"I'm flattered you think so highly of me. Any other questions? Anybody else?" Haskell looked from one side of the room to the other.

"Mr. Haskell, you're of average height and weight and not very muscular," Grissom asked after moments of sickening silence.

"I try to watch what I eat. In jail that takes more strength than you would know."

"A few of your victims were pretty big," Grissom went on. "One even played college football. How were you able to overpower a man like that while still keeping control of the woman?"

"Why don't you tell me, Professor? You obviously have a theory." Haskell looked amused.

"Well, I think you must've had help."

"The works of great men can be hard to comprehend for those less great."

"You said you were going to be honest with us," Ray said. "Now answer the question. Did you have help or not?"

"Well let me think, with Melanie it was just me and the baseball bat. With Kristin, when I cut off her right breast, that was just me. When I crushed Joel's neck and felt his veins burst under my fingers like rotten grapes and watched his mouth fill up with blood, I didn't have any help there either-"

"Where is he you monster?" the class turned to see a distraught woman coming down the steps. "Where is my Joel? Where is he?"

"Oh, I think I hit a nerve."

"You tell me where he is!" she shouted.

"Can I think about that and get back to you? Okay, I thought about it, I'm not going to tell you."

"Oh, please," she cried, collapsing to the floor.

"Don't give him the satisfaction," Ray told her.

"Joel was the first. Joel is in the perfect place. The place where it all began, and if I could get out of here, believe me I would bring him some company," Haskell smiled.

"Mr. Haskell, we know that you had accomplices. If you were to reveal who they were, it might get you out of keep-away," Grissom said.

"Oh, how nice that we have a member of the law enforcement community with us today. For you real students who don't know, "keep-away" is what they call the kind of solitary confinement I'm in," Nate held up his cuffed hands.

"Kill the feed!" Ray shouted.

"It's kind of funny don't you-"

The screen went blank and Ray looked directly at Grissom and Danika. It looked like she would have some explaining to do.

"You hijacked my class without my consent for your investigation!" Ray shouted in Jim's office when the three of them made it back to the station then turned to Danika. "You said he was a professor. A friend of yours."

"He is a friend of mine," she answered, truthfully. "I just said he was a professor so that you wouldn't ask any questions. I'm sorry I lied to you, Ray. I knew he was going to be there for an investigation, but I didn't know what kind of investigation."

"We're working a multiple homicide. We didn't want to talk about it outside the department," Jim added.

"You talked to the Dean," Ray pressed the matter, crossing his arms.

"Well, it was on a need-to-know basis and he had a need to know."

"Look, I don't teach this course because I get off on the subject matter," Ray told them. "If there's another DJK out there, I want him just as bad as you do. I would've helped. I would've been happy to help you."

"I'm sure that's true," Grissom said.

"You believe DJK had an accomplice?" Ray asked.

"I do," Grissom nodded.

"Do you have a name?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, now we're all up to speed," Jim said.

"Doctor, I will keep you posted," he handed Grissom his card.

"To the extent that we can," Jim added.

"Thanks," Ray took it. "I know a kiss-off when I hear one."

"Come on, Ray. I'll buy you a drink," Danika wanted to laugh at the expressions on their faces. "Not that kind of drink you fools. Come on."

* * *

**AA - MamaBirdCat - I love the banter between Riley and Greg too. It made me laugh numerous times through the many episodes. No comments on Ray? I really want to know know. I have to admit though, when I saw him for the first time I could only think of Hannibal because I watched that first, then started with season seven of CSI, a little late I know, but when I saw Ray, I was a little confused. **


	11. Just as She Planned

Just as She Planned

Chapter 11

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**Two more chapters! I think I'm getting a little teary-eyed that this part of the trilogy is almost over. It almost seemed like yesterday that I posted the first chapter. This one has spoilers of One to Go season nine!**

* * *

"I'm guessing you found the body of that boy," was the very first thing that Danika said the moment she picked up her phone.

"You're very good at that you know," Nick chuckled. "Yeah, Haskell gave us the information we needed to find the body, and it was right there for us, however, there was another body not too far away with similar stab wounds."

"Therefore you are going to be working extra- long," Danika finished. "Thanks for calling and telling me. Now I don't have to worry about making more for breakfast than I was going to."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, you know how it goes," Nick said. "Thank you for understanding."

"Nick, I get it, don't worry about it," she replied. "Have fun. Well, as much fun as you can anyway. I'll be here when you get back, unless of course you guys find another body."

"I might fall over before that happens. I'm dying over here," Nick laughed. "I'll call you when I get out of here. I love you."

"Love you too," she said. "Be safe."

"I'll do my best," he hung up.

"That's not what I want to hear, Nick!" she shouted in the empty house. "What to do now? Hmm," she paced around the living room for a moment or two, thinking about what to do with her day. There was no way she was going to be a couch potato and watch TV all day. She would be doing that in a few weeks' time anyway. She could go out and take a walk, get some exercise. "Yeah, like that's going to happen. Who is this?" she looked down as her phone rang again. "Oh, hey Ray, what are you up too? I heard you were in cahoots with the crime lab on the case."

"You heard correctly," he said. "I need to talk to you; can I meet you at the usual place?"

"Sure, Ray. What's this about?"

'I'll tell you all about it when you get here," Ray told her. "It's nothing bad, trust me."

"Okay then," she was unconvinced. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Changing in record time, Danika grabbed her keys and headed towards the university. She was trying to think about what Ray was going to talk to her about. Was it something to do with the case? She hoped Ray realized that, since he knew her husband now, he told her almost everything that happens, but what if it was something that Nick didn't tell her? Danika snorted at herself. Nick wouldn't do that. They told each other everything. She was being ridiculous.

Ray couldn't help but smile when he saw Danika approaching him. Not many women could pull of the pregnancy look, but she did so just fine. He met Nick just the other day and he was a great guy. Those two, he determined, were one lucky couple.

"What's all this about, Ray?" she couldn't hold it in anymore. "This better be good news."

"Nothing's the matter. I promise," he motioned to the empty table. "I just want to apologize for what happened at the seminar. I can't imagine what was going through your mind, and I'm sorry."

"Ray, don't worry about it," Danika said, sipping at her tea. "Really, I'm passed it already. He's gone, I'll never see him again, it's fine. I've moved on. You should too."

"Well, if you're sure," he said.

"I am," she chuckled. "So, what's it like working with the crime lab and police?"

"It's different that's for sure," he answered.

"I hope everyone is treating you right," she said. "If Nick is being an asshole call me, and I'll set him straight."

"You don't have to worry about that," Ray laughed. "There will be no ass-kicking while I am working with them. They all are a good group of people."

"What's that look for?" Danika asked. "I know that look, who's being rude? It's Hodges isn't it?"

"You got that all from one look?" Ray was baffled. "Wow."

"I just know Hodges, he likes to think he's more amazing than he actually is," Danika told her. "Give it time, and he'll warm up to you. It took a while, but he warmed up to me."

"He didn't like you either?" Ray asked. "I find that hard to believe."

"He said that I was tearing the team up by getting Nick to settle down," she laughed. "I told him once that that wasn't what I was intending to do and eventually he gave in and accepted me into their little CSI family. There's still time for you yet. Is that top secret CSI business?"

"We'll see," he answered his cell. "Langston. Yes, I am near my classroom…..I would be glad to help um I'm with a colleague of mine. I don't think you'll mind if she tags along….yes, it is. We'll see you in a little bit. Bye."

"Grissom?"

"Yes, he wants to see if he can figure out if Haskell was looking at his accomplice while the lecture was going on," Ray pulled on his jacket. "And you're coming with me."

"Of course I am," she trashed her cup. "I feel like I'm a CSI now. Thanks for including me, Ray. That's oh so thoughtful of you."

Ray chuckled slightly before they both headed over to his classroom. He was really interested in what Grissom was going to have them do. How was he going to figure out who Haskell was looking at? He was all over the place during the time of the seminar; if they managed to find out who it was, Ray would be amazed. By the time they entered the classroom; Grissom, Catherine, Nick, and Greg were already there and ready to go.

"This is the most I have ever seen you guys on any given day," Danika commented, watching Greg set up the recorded seminar. "It makes me feel like a CSI. I should be an honorary member or something. Do I get a badge?"

"I don't think so," Nick said, wrapping his arms around her from the back, resting his hands on her large stomach. "Way to dangerous."

"Well obviously I wouldn't do any of the horrifying things," she leaned back into him. "That's your thing. I'm not going to take that away from you."

"Gee, thanks," he said, looking up at the face of Nate Haskell. "Looks good, Greg."

"Ever have the feeling you were being watched? Even in a crowded room, someone making eye contact with you just for a second triggers a powerful response. It's the brain filtering through a mass of visual information telling you what's important," Grissom said once the video was ready.

"Is he always like that during investigations?" Danika asked in a hushed tone.

"Mostly," Nick nodded.

"Yeah, like which predator wants to eat you," Catherine said.

"If Haskell was communicating with someone in this class, I'm betting that they made eye contact with each other. More than once," Grissom said.

"Are we going to try and match eye lines with the students?" Nick asked.

"The University wouldn't allow the student's side to be recorded for liability and security reasons. Okay there. We thought he said this to Mrs. Steiner. He's clearly talking to his accomplice," Ray spoke, pointing to Haskell's face on the screen.

"Joel was the first. Joel lives in the place where it all began. If I could get out of here, believe me I would bring him some company," Danika shivered at the sound of his voice. So much for not having to hear him anymore.

"Pretty clear now what Haskell meant by that," Nick responded, pressing his lips to her temple. "He can't do anything to you."

"I know," she whispered. "It's just his voice. It freaks me out."

"I'll loop it," Greg exclaimed.

"Great."

"Joel was the first. Joel lives in the perfect place where it all began. And If I could get out of here, believe me I would bring him some company. If I could get out of here, believe me I would bring him some company."

"Mrs. Steiner was standing right there," Grissom told Catherine as she stopped right where she though his eyes landed.

"It's hard to tell who he's really talking to," Catherine stared at the screen.

"Did anything else he say stand out?" Greg asked Ray.

"Yes," he said. "Um, try two and a half minutes in. Someone asked how he selected his victims."

"Did you ever buy a car? You go down to the showroom, you're pretty sure you're going to get one, but why the red one, why not the blue one? Nobody knows, but just one of them speaks to you. That's the one you gotta have."

"He's looking right here," Nick released his hold from his wife and stood where Haskell's eyes were. "Dan Forester."

"Brass already interviewed him," Catherine stated. "We don't think he's our guy."

"Maybe because he screwed up with Ian and Justine. Big time. Did anyone ask Haskell for any pointers?" Greg asked.

"Yes," he paused. "Try four hours and twenty three minutes. Danika asked how he was able to manage to control his victims."

"You have to give them hope," Danika wanted to curl up in a fetal position and hide. Everyone in the room could see how Haskell's face changed. Back came the vile grin, the one that made Danika feel like she was living a nightmare. "If you bring a human being to the brink of death, and then you offer a chance no matter how small a chance to survive they'll grab it. And they'll thank you for it. And then you can do whatever you want. And believe me. I did."

Heart pounding in her chest, she followed his eyes as he spoke. She didn't want to relive this moment, but if this was going to help them catch the killer then so be it. Standing before a seat, she looked up at his face again just to make sure she was in the right place. "Thomas Donover."

"Let's see if we can find Thomas," Grissom said.

Danika hugged herself as she watched the others grab their bags and make their way back to their trucks.

"Are you all right?" Nick asked before leaving with the rest of them. "Do you want me to-"

"Just go, Nick," she told him. "I'm fine. You have work to do. I'll see you at home when you catch this guy."

"Okay," he kissed her quickly before leaving her the only one in the classroom. "I love you!"

"I love you too," but she knew Nick couldn't hear her. Danika grabbed her bag after composing herself. She needed to go home and relax. This was too much excitement for her for one day, and she had a feeling that Cassie wasn't too happy about it either.

She made it back home and flipped the lights on. Maddie was sound asleep on the couch, something that wasn't surprising to her. Dropping her bag to the floor, Danika moaned at the slight pain in her stomach. Cassie really wasn't happy with what had happened back at the university.

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean for you to get upset," she spoke. "It won't happen again."

Danika made it up to the master bathroom, turned on the shower, stripped off her clothing and stepped inside. A nice hot shower always made everything better. The hot water felt wonderful on her skin. If only it would clean her mind. She didn't want to think about or see the face of Nate Haskell again.

She stayed there until the water ran cold. Her skin was nice and wrinkly by now. Wonderful. Shutting the faucet off, she grabbed the towel from the hanger, dried herself off and slipped into something much more comfortable. It was when a sharp pain shot through her that she knew that the idea of a nap wasn't going to happen.

"Me and my big mouth," she hissed. "Why now, little one? Why do I always have to be right?"

* * *

"Strange time to be stargazing don't you think?" Nick asked, eyeing the books that Grissom was flipping through.

"Ansel Adams often forgot when he took his photographs, so a bunch of astronomers tried to figure it out by using the image itself. By referencing the moon's position in relationship to known landmarks and lunar azimuth tables, they were able to determine the date and time the photo was taken. I thought we could reverse the science. We know when this was made, maybe the moon can tell us where," Grissom said.

"Forensic astronomy?" Nick asked, looking at Grissom then thinking about what he had shared with the group earlier. "I will never forget the things you've taught me."

"You're the best student I ever had, Nick," Grissom answered sincerely. "Let's see if we can figure this out. Who's that?"

"Sorry," he apologized answering his phone. "Danni, what's the matter? Now? It's fine, um- I'll see what I can do," he hung up and looked at his supervisor. "She's gone into labor. She's at Desert Palm right now."

"Then what are you doing sitting here?" Grissom asked.

"But this case-"

"You have more important things to do," Gil pointed out. "It's all right, Nick. We can manage without you this one time."

"Thanks," Nick gunned it towards his locker then to his car. He was thankful he knew guys in the police department, that way if he got pulled over for speeding, he would have gotten out of trouble. Thankfully though, he made it to the hospital without a problem. Asking the receptionist where his wife was, room 546, he hopped into the elevator up to the fifth floor. Nick didn't even realize how fast he was going until he made it to her room. His heart was pounding, she was three weeks early.

"I am so sorry, Nick," Danika cried from the bed. "I didn't really think-"

"Don't worry about a thing," he dropped his coat onto the nearest chair, crouched down by her side and held her hand tightly. "Grissom says everything is under control. It's just you and me, babe."

"Okay, just as long as you aren't in trouble," his heart went out to her, watching her wince in pain. "We have a while to go. I just started."

"I love how you're worrying about me while you are in so much pain," he couldn't help but laugh a little. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No," she shook her head. "But I think now would be a good time to call our parents. That way, I don't know, if they wanted to come or anything, they would have some time."

"Good idea," Nick kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back."

* * *

**vegas nivel 3 - Switched it up on ya a little bit there didn't I? You think I have a tremendous way of writing? Thank you so much. That puts a big smile on my face. Thank you for the review. **


	12. Oh Baby

Oh Baby

Chapter 12

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**One more chapter to go. I might cry. Thank you to all of those who have stuck with me through this fun ride. I hope to see all of you when the next story comes out. **

* * *

"Come on, come on, come on," Nick paced back and forth in the hospital's hallway. He had just gotten off the phone with Danika's parents; telling them that they were in the hospital now; waiting and they were already getting their plane tickets. Now he needed to tell his parents, and he hoped they would also be on the next flight to Vegas. "Pick up the phone already!" What was taking them so long to answer the damn phone?

"Hello?" Jillian answered. "Nicky, this better be important, your father and I were just about to head out for our dinner reservation."

"Well in that case you two have a good time. I just thought, you know, you might to know that Danika went into labor and your grandchild will be here soon, but if that's not important to you-"

"Oh, Nicky!" she exclaimed. "Bill! Bill, cancel those reservations and get us two tickets to Las Vegas right now! We're going to be grandparents again," Nick laughed. "Don't laugh at your mother, son."

"I'm sorry," he smiled. "That's just the same thing that Olivia said to Dominic. Minus the dinner part of course, but you know what I mean."

"This is so exciting," Jillian gushed. "How is she doing? Anything happening yet?"

"She's fine for right now, mom," he said. "Nothing's really happening right now."

"Okay and how are you?"

"I'm freaking out a little bit to be honest," he rubbed at the top of his head. "She's three weeks early, mom. Danni said it's not that big of a deal in her family, but I'm still not convinced you know. What if something is wrong? What if something goes wrong? I don't know-"

"Don't worry about a thing, sweetie," his mother said. "Three weeks might seem early to you, but it could be worse, and if Danika says everything is fine, trust her. You have nothing to be afraid of, now get off this phone and go be with your wife. Your father and I will see you as soon as we get there."

"Okay," Nick shuffled his feet. "Have a safe flight. Thank you, mom."

"Anytime, Nicky," the phone went dead.

"They're both on planes now aren't they?" Danika asked her husband when he came back into the room. "That was quick."

"Are you kidding? They want to be here when Cassie arrives," he answered. "They said they'll be here as soon as they can. Are you sure you don't want me to get you anything?"

"No," she said. "Just pull up a chair and sit with me before I become obnoxious and say hateful things to you. It's still early. It's going to be hours before I'm even fully dilated. And when I do start to get really mad and say things to you, don't take them to heart, it's just the pain talking."

"I'll keep that in mind," he smiled, pulling a chair up to her side. "So this is it huh?"

"I believe so," Danika breathed heavily. "No turning back now. Are you ready? You can lie if you have to. I can see it written on your face."

"I would have liked to have three more weeks to prepare myself, but I can handle it," he answered. "You weren't kidding when you said that being early ran in the family."

"Nope, but there is one thing you can look forward to."

"What's that?"

"The money that I won from Greg," she said. "How much am I going to get again?"

"How can you be thinking about the bet at a time like this?" Nick exclaimed. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"Because I know how un-calm I am going to be in a few hours, and I am trying to get you to calm down too," she answered. "Is it working?"

"No, not really."

"Damn, well at least I tried right," It was then that Julie came into the room. "Hi, Julie. Long time no see."

"Yes, an hour is a fairly long time," Julie smiled. "You're Nick I presume?"

"That's correct, ma'am."

"Very good, very good," Julie shook her head, checking on Danika's progress. "You're still only about three centimeters; you still have a while to go yet until we start with the fun stuff."

"Yeah, the fun stuff," Danika sighed. "Just what I wanted to hear, Julie. It's like you could get inside my head."

"I've been told that many times," the nurse grinned. "Have you gotten ahold of your folks yet?"

"Yeah, they are all on their way," Nick answered. "They couldn't get me off the phone fast enough."

"I can only imagine," Julie laughed. "I'll be back to check on things again in a little while, call for me if you need anything, and make sure she's relaxed, Nick."

"Will do," he nodded, noticing the pain in Danika's face. "Bad one?"

"Little bit," she answered. "This is going to be awful. It's times like this where I wish I didn't hate needles so much."

It took a long and aggravating nine hours until Danika was fully dilated, and Nick was glad she told him not to take anything she said to heart. She was swearing up a storm and cursing his name to the high heavens. Danika wasn't even pushing at that point either. He could only imagine what she would say when that time came for the hard stuff.

"All right, Danika, you're going to have to start pushing," Julie instructed. "We're just going to go nice and slow, okay."

"Okay," she nodded, beginning to hate life and everything about it. The last ten hours were torture and that wasn't even the hard part all things considered. "Nick, give me your left hand please."

"Why my left hand?" he asked.

"Because if I end up breaking your fingers, you'll still be able to shoot your gun," snatching it before he could even say a word. "This sucks."

"But you're doing fine," Julie said. "Just breathe. Relax."

"Ha, easy for you to say," Danika pushed again, squeezing Nick's hand as hard as she possibly could. "I hate you so much right now, Nick. I just want you to know that."

"I understand," he said, pulling out his buzzing phone from his pocket with his dominate hand. "That's my parents. I guess that means they're here."

"Go," she insisted. "But come back quick. I need you here, Nicky."

"I'll be right back," he kissed her sweaty forehead. "Don't have this baby without me okay."

"Trust me, I'm in no rush."

"Pancho," Nick skidded to a halt once he heard his father call his name. Both of his parents were there, but he was surprised to see that Olivia and Dominic were there as well. What were the chances of that happening? That both sets of parents would be there at the exact same time?

"How long have you all been out here?" Nick asked.

"We all just got here," Olivia answered. "Funny how that works wouldn't ya say? How's everything going, Nick?"

"Good so far, I think," he answered.

"Get back in there, Pancho," Bill told him. "If there's one thing I learned, stay with your wife."

"I can agree to that," Dominic added.

"Okay," Nick said. "And if the others come, just yeah-"

"He's so flustered," Jillian thought aloud. "Nick is so out of his element right now. It's almost comical to watch."

"He'll be fine, dear," Bill embraced her. "How much longer do you think?"

"Who knows," Olivia and Jillian answered together.

"Could you have taken any longer?" Danika shouted the moment Nick walked back inside. "I'm dying over here."

"I'm sorry," he came back to her side, letting her grab his hand again. "Both of our parents are out there."

"Good," she let out a loud, painful scream.

"Good, Danika, keep going," Julie said. "You're almost there."

"I can't do this anymore, Nicky," she pleaded with him, tears in her eyes. "I can't. It hurts too much."

"Don't you dare say that," Nick said. "Don't you dare! You can do this, you're almost there. I'm right here with you. It's you and me remember."

"I'm so tired, Nick," his heart went out to her as more tears fell from her eyes.

"Give me one more push. I can almost see the head," Julie said. "Then it will be easy sailing for you."

Grissom, Catherine, Greg, and Ray were making their way to the waiting room as soon as the bodies of the missing girls were recovered. It had taken somewhat longer than they originally planned, but they managed to put a stop to the madness. For now anyway. The only thing that was on their minds was getting to the hospital for their friend and colleague. When they saw the Stokes' and the Evans' they knew they were in the right spot.

"Any news?" Greg asked first.

"Not yet," Bill answered. "Nick came out a while ago, but no one has told us anything. Thank you for coming."

"And miss something like this? No way," Catherine said.

"Ray, I didn't know you were a CSI," Olivia said.

"Oh, I'm not," he chuckled. "I was just helping out with this one case. I still work at the university."

"Interesting."

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving," Greg announced. "Does anyone want anything? My treat."

"I'm fine, Greg," Jillian answered. "But thank you."

"I'll go with you, Greg, I need to stretch my legs," Dominic said. "All this waiting is beginning to get to my head, and these legs can't stay in one place as long as they used to."

Catherine sat down next to Olivia and Jillian, immediately getting into a deep conversation while Grissom and Ray joined Bill as he stood and waited. Grissom was happy for his friend. Nick really deserved this. He deserved to be happy and have a family. If only Sara was here to see this. He smiled to himself as he thought about what she would be saying.

"What's that face for?" Ray asked him.

"I'm just thinking," Grissom answered.

"You've been doing that a lot lately it seems."

"You could say that, yes," Grissom agreed. "Nick's been here for hours. He must be exhausted."

"I bet he is, but there's no way he would be feeling it," Bill added into their conversation. "He's most likely a nice mix of emotions right now, but he's not feeling tired at all. Especially if Danika is screaming and killing the bones in his fingers."

"That sounds horrible. I'm glad I missed the first part of that story," Greg said as he and Dominic joined them. "Can you believe they were out of potato chips? What hospital runs out of potato chips?" All eight heads turned when the door opened and Nick stepped into the hallway. Olivia, Jillian, and Catherine rose to their feet awaiting the good news.

"Six pounds five ounces," he smiled wide. "She's a little on the tiny side, but they said she's going to be just fine."

Olivia and Jillian couldn't contain themselves. They engulfed him for entire side in tight bear hugs. Dominic and Bill laughed at their wives. Even after all this time, they were still emotional wrecks when it came to babies. Bill placed his hand on his son's shoulder and smiled.

"Way to go, Pancho."

"Thanks, Cisco," Nick gave him a teary-eyed smile.

* * *

**vegas nivel 3 - Thank you very much :) **


	13. Family

Family

Chapter 13

* * *

**Here it is everyone. the final chapter of Family. A cute, little short ending to the story. I've said it many times already, but thank you all for reading and sticking around. I hope to see you all back again for the final story of the trilogy. It won't be up for a bit. I'm going to wait and post the first chapter when I have the majority of the story typed up. Strap those seat belts on tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride. **

* * *

Nick couldn't explain what exactly he was feeling as he watched the nurses roll his little girl into the nursery for everyone to see. It was a mixture of happiness, excitement, a little bit of fear maybe, but that much was expected, but most importantly there was the feeling of love. The moment he saw his daughter he fell in love. Love was a funny thing. Never had he fallen in love with something so quickly before, well, given one exception of course. Nick was in awe as both he and his father watched her from beyond the glass. It was amazing how something so small, something barely bigger than his forearm, could draw him in.

"I don't know how you could go through with that seven times," Nick mentioned to his father, not taking his eyes off of the baby in the third row, second in from the left. "I also have so much more respect for mom now. It makes me so thankful that I am a man."

"I said that every time when your mother was giving birth to your siblings," Bill replied. "It looks like Cassie is going to have your hair color. I don't think I have ever seen that much hair on a newborn before."

"You never know," Nick shrugged. "It could change, but I wouldn't mind it if she did, you know."

"I know you wouldn't."

"That sure is a lot of babies," Greg whistled as he and his co-workers stood beside him. "A. Lot. Of. Babies."

"Which one is she, Nicky?" Catherine asked, trying to pick the little one out of the crowd herself.

"That one," he pointed to the baby wrapped up tightly in a pink blanket, her tiny hands opening and closing as if she was trying to figure out what the heck they were. "It looks like she's trying to wave to us."

"She really is tiny," Greg stated the obvious. "But I think it only makes her cuter."

"I think so," Nick agreed, his eyes moved to the nurse that entered the room, wheeling her out of the room. "I take it that's our queue yeah?"

Everyone agreed that Nick should go back in first. They didn't want all eight of them back in that room at a time, even though Nick said that there was more than enough room for them all to fit, but he didn't fight with them long. He wanted to get back in there as soon as possible.

Nick's heart swelled at the sight before him when he entered through the opened door. Danika was upright, cradling Cassie to her chest with a bright smile on her face. Gone was the tiredness that he had seen moments before, replaced with plenty of new emotions like he was experiencing moments before as well. He could understand why both of their families did this so often. The pain might have been great, but the reward was much greater. She caught his staring eyes and grinned wider.

"There he is," she said. "We were wondering when you were going to get here."

Nick couldn't speak. He couldn't form any words. He just made his way over to his family, crouched down beside them and stared at the life they had created together. "Her fingers are so small," he managed after long moments of silence.

"I know," Danika grinned. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Are you sure?" he asked. "What if I-"

"You won't break her, Tex," she laughed. "You've had plenty of practice before. You know what you're doing. Just mind her head."

Cassandra Grace Stokes was so light in his arms it was like he was holding nothing but air. Nick pulled her close to him and smiled. He had been doing that a lot lately, but he couldn't help it. The baby's tiny fist held onto his pinky finger and didn't let go. She had a strong grip, but what pulled him in the most was the moment when those brown eyes opened and stared right up at him. They were just like her mother's.

"She's perfect," he said.

"Of course she is. She's ours," Danika replied. "Nick, are you okay? You're not saying much."

"Thank you," he whispered, kissing her. "Thank you for making me agree to this. Thank you for giving me a family."

"Knock knock," both Nick and Danika turned to see their parents coming into the room. "Catherine, Greg, Grissom and Ray went home, but they will be back soon no doubt," That was a good thing. Nick knew how tired they all would have been. It wasn't until then that he realized how tired he was. He had been up for well over twenty-four hours not that he was counting or anything. "She really is small, and she looks like the both of you."

"That's a good thing, I don't know what I would have done if she looked just like Nick," Danika replied.

"That's for later, right sweetie?" Olivia asked.

"We'll see," she sighed. "But that won't be for quite some time. Sorry, Tex. We're just going to be putting up with one for a little bit."

"I'm perfectly fine with that," Nick answered, taking her to their parents. "What would this be? Grandchild twenty-seven?"

"Very funny," Jillian laughed. "It's not nearly that many."

"This will be our fourth," Dominic answered. "And by far the cutest newborn of the bunch. Do you remember what Alicia looked like when she was a newborn? Talk about an ugly baby."

"She was yellow for a really long time. I remember that," Danika laughed in remembrance. "And big too, but don't tell Ethan and Amy I said that. They'll yell at me."

"They can't yell if it's true," Olivia said.

"Thanks, mama," she said, watching both sets of parents pass the baby around.

Nick went back to his wife's side, stealing kisses every now and then, watching their daughter being passed back and forth between their parents. She was going to be a spoiled, little thing. That was for sure.

It was about forty-five minutes later when the others came back freshly dressed and wide-eyed. It was amazing what a quick nap and a shower could do. Catherine was the first to start fawning over Cassie not that they were surprised at all. All four of them took turns holding the baby and sating how cute she was.

"Watch out, Nick. I have a feeling she's going to be a heartbreaker when she gets older," Greg joked, rocking the baby slowly. "Not to worry though, Uncle Greg will keep those boys in line."

"Let's not think about that right now, Greg," Nick said. "There won't be any boys for a very, very long time. Grissom, make sure you get a picture to take to Sara. Don't give me that look; we all know that's why you're leaving."

Danika still couldn't believe that Grissom was leaving the team. Nick had told her about it a few hours ago in an attempt to get her mind off things; she thought he was lying at the time. At the beginning, Danika wondered why he would leave his friends after all of the years they had been together, but after thinking about it, she understood. It just wasn't the same for him when Sara left, and if he was going to go to her, then his team would all understand.

Gil Grissom wasn't normally an emotional man, but it was moments like these where he felt his heart pull at times. As he watched his friends smile over their newest addition, it just made his decision to leave Vegas that much more important. He wanted that. He wanted to have something to come home to every day. He was happy for Nick. Grissom knew that in the beginning, Nick was scared about having a child, but now, as anyone could clearly see, all of his worries were gone.

It was late by the time their friends and family had left the hospital. Now it was only the three Stokes. Cassie was fast asleep in her mother's arms while Nick and Danika talked quietly to one another.

"I still can't believe it," Nick said, watching her tiny chest rise and fall.

"I know what you mean," Danika replied. "I can't either."

* * *

**AA - MamaBirdCat - I have a feeling that everyone would come and support you know. They're their own happy little family. Thank you for reading and reviewing throughout this story. I really appreciate the input and comments. **

**vegas nivel 3 - Thank you :) As for the at home stuff, you're going to wait for the next story to find out what happens. Thank you for sticking with the story and reviewing. I really appreciate it. **


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